Skills and Practices for Navigating Uncertainty

Life tosses curve balls at you without providing instructions for making sense of the events or for recovering. Society’s linear approach to life as a runway has a nice roadmap that looks step by step. Theoretically, you graduate from high school, go to university, get a job, find a partner, get married (or not), have a family, buy a house and life is predictable.

Except life is not predictable. Though we can pretend it is, it’s an illusion.

Where security used to be found on the outside with the stability of certainty, today there are many unanswered questions. I followed the path laid out for me until I discovered that it was a bit too predictable and loaded with drama. Yes, it was secure, but that security came at a price. Happiness. So when I pushed away from familiar shores, the adventure began. My PhD thesis (not an academic passport though it should be) was earned through nine years of homelessness, preceded by many more interruptions, reflection and introspection. These are skills everyone needs. Emotional-mental resilience is grounded in what I call visionary resilience.

Security is no longer found in the stability of outer world achievements. It is found in your connection to your inner world and your capacity to adapt.

The inner skills are not taught in universities, schools, or formal education. They are grounded in curiosity, new experiential territory, and reflection. Refreshing and upgrading natural skills requires far greater attention…