Word-Of-the-Week #770: Uncertainty
May 9, 2019 by Susan Clarke
Uncertainty – that which is not accurately known or predictable.
“Uncertainty is a potential, unpredictable, and uncontrollable outcome; risk is a consequence of action taken in spite of uncertainty.” – Wikipedia
How does it make you feel when a potential outcome is not predictable? Does it make you want to retreat or go for it? Would you feel any different if your life depended on it?
This week and next features two incredible people who have accomplished death defying feats. First is Alex Honnold. Any idea who he is? Did you happen to see the documentary Free Solo?
Last summer, he became the first, and only person so far, to climb El Capitan without any ropes or safety gear. The 3,000-foot granite wall is higher than the tallest building in the world and towers majestically over California’s famed Yosemite Valley. Pretty incredible and sometimes hard to watch!
These are some of my favorite quotes that I think everyone can relate too.
“If your life depended on it, would you keep doing what you’re doing…or would you change your strategy?”
“You will always feel fear, but over time you will realize the only way to truly manage your fear is to broaden your comfort zone.”
“I try to expand my comfort zone by practicing the moves over and over again. I work through the fear, until it’s just not scary anymore.”
“The big challenge is controlling your mind, I guess. Because you’re not, you’re not controlling your fear, you’re sort of just trying to step outside of it.”
“So I could just, like, not do certain things, but then you have, like, weird simmering resentment because it’s things that you love most in life have now been squashed.”
And this from my long time speaker bud Steve Straus, “Life is uncertain.
There are two ways to deal with life’s uncertainty. One is to fear it. The other is to enjoy it.
Children have no concept of the future (or fear) so they gleefully experience the wonder and delight of uncertainty on a daily basis.
The key question is, do you see the wonder and delight of uncertainty or the fear and doubt of an unknown and scary future? It really is only a choice you’ve made.
This week’s focus is on uncertainty. How good are you at controlling your mind in the face of fear? When was the last time you gleefully broadened your comfort zone? Have you ever felt resentment because you didn’t do something or were told you couldn’t or shouldn’t do it?
I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.