Uncertainty disrupts our lives and routines. But with the right tools, we can learn to triumph — not only over adversity, but even over the unknown
But not too many lives are like that. Ambiguity is an inherent aspect of life. Our hearts and minds have their own way of spelling “uncertainty,” and it’s d-a-n-g-e-r. If we knew for sure when the virus would die out, or the vaccine discovered, we’d feel better. If we knew for sure that when that happened, everyone we cared about would be healthy and well, we’d feel better. If we knew for sure that we’d still have jobs and homes when it was all over, we’d feel better. But we don’t.
Stock markets don’t rally to uncertainty, and neither do people. But with a pandemic in the air, riots in the streets, and shaky prospects for parnassah, we’re being forced to face the precariousness of life. Uncertainty paralyzes us and can cripple our efforts to cope. We do whatever we can to reassert control over our lives, but our options are pretty limited. We’re being pushed to the edges of our nests, and forced to learn to fly.
Most of our daily activities are performed by rote. Uncertainty disrupts our automatic routines and makes us hypervigilant, both mentally and emotionally. It causes us to see threats everywhere, and to produce an outsized emotional response.
Cancer, with all of its unknowns and frightening implications, is one of the ultimate tests of our ability to deal with uncertainty. Researchers measured cortisol (stress hormone) levels in people waiting for the results of their biopsies, and in people who had been diagnosed with cancer. Sure, waiting on tenterhooks for an answer is stressful, but it has to be better than the stress of hearing that the biopsy shows cancer… doesn’t it?
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