The Power of Uncertainty.

Why are we so upset by uncertainty? You might be surprised that I’d even ask the question, given the uncertain times we live in. But I imagine you’d be even more surprised to find that uncertainty is the source of an enormous power that most people never tap into.

Instead of using this power of uncertainty, we run away from it. In an effort to replace uncertainty with its opposite, we sacrifice a precious aspect of our self. The English writer Aldous Huxley called it whole mind. Each of us as a birthright were given whole mind, he declares, but we spend our lives squeezing the mind through a reducing valve, as Huxley calls it. If you watch yourself closely, you will see how effectively you’re applying the reducing valve every day. You do this through habit, fixed beliefs, a whole list of likes and dislikes, and all kinds of experiences you deny yourself through caution, fear, and routine.

Why do we spend our lives repeating some version of “I like this” and “I don’t like that”? Why are we prey to habits we can’t seem to change or give up? Why do we settle for so much boring routine? Because we bought into the notion that reality needs to be reduced to a manageable size.

Uncertainty enters the picture because it has become the thing we most want to avoid. We fear unforeseen consequences without actually preventing them or making peace with them. What is the evening news but blasts of anxiety-provoking accidents, catastrophes, and things generally going out of control? It hardly seems possible that uncertainty contains hidden power we’d want to tap into. But as soon as you stop relying on the reducing valve, your awareness starts to expand. This paves the way for “Aha” moments, when you see that without uncertainty there would be no creativity, discovery, curiosity, or newness. Uncertainty is the place where discovery, beauty, joy, and spontaneity comes from. It is the infinite source of possibilities within your awareness.

The whole point of being here now, alive in the present moment, is that the now renews itself. The next instant is a fresh possibility, capable of delivering something from the unknown. As long as the unknown frightens you, however, you will not tolerate newness, calling it uncertainty instead. What should be a source of joy in the eternal now turns into anxious vigilance for what might go wrong next.

In order to embrace uncertainty, you have all kinds of possibilities.

First, embrace creativity. Any creative activity puts uncertainty to use. The greatest poems begin with a blank sheet of paper, the greatest art with a blank canvas. These are symbols for the true nature of life, which needs to be renewed by starting from an open, receptive mind.

Stop focusing on worst-case scenarios and old bad memories. When they arise, say to yourself, “That’s not me anymore. I am here now.”

Realize that the past and the future have no tangible reality compared with the present, where reality unfolds. Use memory where it is useful; don’t let memory use you.

When you find yourself being distracted, stressed, or pressured, immediately take time out. Find a quiet place, close your eyes, and breathe normally until you are more centered.

Reframing uncertainty and staying centered in yourself are both important, so I hope you take seriously that fearing and fighting against life’s uncertainties isn’t the right way to exist. Yet there is something more important, the thing Huxley called whole mind. When we reduce our choices to small, manageable decisions, we deny whole mind and therefore ensure that our lives won’t be whole.

Wholeness is all-embracing. You cannot become whole. You are whole already, and once you attune yourself to this reality, the power of uncertainty can be trusted. When you live with constricted awareness, which is the result of the reducing valve, you are watching life through a narrow window. You might accept this diagnosis but still see no way out. There is only one way out: You must trust existence, meaning that you feel reality is on your side. What you want to do, is actually good for you. By expanding your awareness, you exchange a narrow window for a panoramic view.

Learning to trust existence is simultaneously the easiest and the hardest thing to do. Ever since you were born, you have trusted your body to operate correctly, your next heartbeat to happen, along with your next breath. Trillions of cells inside you do nothing except trust that their existence is secure. We could base our whole life on the same trust, so why don’t we? Fear of uncertainty is a major reason, but so is the absence of the right teaching. By this, I don’t mean spiritual teaching, metaphysics, or religion.

What I mean is the teaching that comes from personal experience. If you experience that reality is on your side, you will have accomplished the goal of every religion, metaphysical school, and spiritual tradition. Enlightenment comes down to the simplest of all realizations: Pure consciousness knows and governs all, and in your essence, you are that consciousness.

DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, FRCP, is a Consciousness Explorer and a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is co-founder of DeepakChopra.ai, his AI twin and well-being advisor. He also co-founded Cyberhuman, a transformative suite of personalized health and well-being solutions. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is also an Honorary Fellow in Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He is the author of over 95 books, translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers.

For the last thirty years, Chopra has been at the forefront of the meditation revolution. His mission is to create a more balanced, peaceful, joyful, and healthier world. Through his teachings, he guides individuals to embrace their inherent strength, wisdom, and potential for personal and societal transformation.

In his latest book, “Digital Dharma” (Harmony/Rodale,)  Chopra navigates the balance between technology and expanded awareness, explaining that while AI cannot duplicate human intelligence, it can vastly enhance personal and spiritual growth. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “one of their top 100 most influential people.” www.deepakchopra.com.