The Certainty of Uncertainty

Is the uncertainty of this time unsettling you? We are discovering how infectious Omicron is and the uprise in Covid-cases is astonishing. Our hospital systems are being overwhelmed, younger children are now getting covid at alarming rates and we are all tired of seemingly endless restrictions and hospitalizations are scary.   

In this time where everything is rapidly changing and things that we use to be able to rely upon are no longer available, how can we find peace and calm in the middle of all of this?   

To open to the deep peace and a cellular trust of life that is always here no matter what is going on in our lives, it is helpful to realize life is uncertain! What the pandemic is highlighting is the uncertainty that we experience all the time. Life is an ever-changing process. All of us can get sick in the blink of an eye and eventually we are going to die – and we don’t even know when.  

The impermanence of it all scares us but that isn’t what causes us so much heartache. It is the addiction to trying to control the uncontrollability of life, which causes so much suffering. But if you embrace uncertainty, it can take you to a place you have deeply longed for your whole life, a place where you know that this is the only moment you really have, you can trust what is happening and everything is precious beyond compare. 

A well-known Thai meditation master was once asked about how to find peace in the middle of a constantly changing world and his response was to hold up a glass. He said, “You see this glass? For me, this glass is already broken. I enjoy it, I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably and sometimes it even reflects the sun in beautiful patterns. But when my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious. Every moment is just as it is, and nothing need to be otherwise.” 

Lift your eyes and look around you and realize that everything you see is constantly changing. It usually changes at such a slow pace that you don’t notice it. If you have flowers in a vase beside you, it is easy to see that they will wilt in a day or two; it is harder to see that one day the building you are sitting in will no longer be here. It is even harder to see that one day every single one of our bodies will dissolve back into the mystery where they came from.  

Now, you can hear what I am offering through your fear-based mind and all that does is cut you off from the preciousness of this moment. Or you can hear it for the truth that it is and discover that you no longer need take the gift of life for granted. Or as Somerset Maugham once said, “Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.” 

When you realize that there’s nothing to hold onto, that everything is constantly changing, your priorities change. If you are being given the gift of good health right now, you don’t take it for granted.  When you remember that the people you care about are impermanent, you relate to them with love for the precious and temporary gift they are. As Thich Nhat Hahn said, “Impermanence teaches us to respect and value every moment and all the precious things around us and inside of us. When we practice mindfulness of impermanence, we become fresher and more loving.” 

So, I invite you to bring your attention to your breath. Each breath is a gift from life and one day there will be no more breaths. Again, if that generates fear, simply acknowledge fear. (FEAR – False Evidence Appearing as Real) Then see beyond fear and recognize the preciousness of this moment of your life – the only moment where life is real. Recognize that the gift of life you have been given, will one day no longer be here. And if it calls to you, live as if this is your last day on earth. Allow this to open you to the newness of absolutely everything.