Less than certain

Photo by Brett Jordan

I’ve been grappling with uncertainty a lot lately. Actually, let’s face it: All of my life. Certainty has always been something that seemed to engulf some people far too easily while others, like myself, keep dancing on the edges—without a safety net on either side.

Truth is hard to capture. You’d think it would be easier with the accumulation of more facts and data, but sometimes all it leads to is decision paralysis. The more I learn about something, the more confused I often become. Perhaps I’m just seeing too many shades of grey? And yet, we live in a world where decisions have to be made. We can’t live with uncertainty forever. That’s where emotional tools can come in handy too. Humans refer to this as a “gut feeling.”

Often, when I listen to this mystical element, it guides me well. I don’t know exactly why, but it works. I suspect it has to do with the complexity of the machinery that is our mind. What we perceive as our “gut” is some sort of a calculator th…