To Hope in a Time of Uncertainty
Image by John Towner
It’s hard sometimes to face the feeling of never quite being completely certain — that no matter how much effort you put into what you’re doing, there will always be a question somewhere in the back of your mind about whether you’re on the right path, doing the right thing the right way, if it’ll lead you to where you want to go, and if in the end it’ll make you feel happy and fulfilled.
Maybe some of my friends out there are at a stage in life where you’re pushing very hard in the hope it’ll lead to the lifestyle you want. It may not be here yet, but it’s coming. “God says BE,” the Koran says, “and (somehow) it is.”
Maybe others are already on their path and attempting to trust themselves, and the universe, just hoping they’re making the right decisions each day and trying to let go of outcomes. “By letting go,” as the Tao Te Ching says, “it all gets done.”
And maybe I have friends out there that are completely lost for what to do in life, and how to find happiness, the concept is so far away at the moment. Maybe hope feels gone. This is a particularly hard place to sit in life… but being here is okay too. If you let the people that matter know how this feels they will surely understand as well, and in the meantime you can sit at these crossroads until you’re ready to select a way onward. You deserve the time it takes to decide, as much time as you need. “Awakening self-compassion,” says Tara Brach, “is often the greatest challenge people face on the spiritual path.”
I’m writing this post to create a little extra space today — it’s alright when things are uncertain like this. I know the world looks chaotic and tense and so far out of control. But it’s okay if the path forward isn’t clear. I know our government and economy and social order are hard to understand right now. But it’s okay not to know what to do next. You are safe to take this moment, this one right now, and feel lost and worried and unsure that things will work out the way you hope.
It’s also going to be safe if things don’t work out the way you hope, you’ll be okay. You are safe to do a bad job too. You are also safe to fail. Everyone does and everyone has at least once before. Bad luck is safe as well, everyone catches it at some point, like a cold.
You deserve the same right to be wrong at times. You also deserve the right to make mistakes and to receive forgiveness. You deserve the right to be scared about the future. You don’t have to be brave. Even in a relationship you can both be the weak one at the same time, there doesn’t have to be a strong one, it’s okay to be that weak.
It’s safe to hope without knowing what will happen next. It isn’t foolish, it isn’t naïve. Everyone hopes their lives will turn out for the better. Everyone is scared it won’t happen. Everyone is worried about the future. Everyone hopes it will hold wondrous outcomes.
Let’s hope together today, all of us. Blindly, if we have to. Safely, as we are.
If you’re reading this, know you and I are hoping together at this very moment. And we’re hoping for the best.
Article originally published on Medium.com