Anxiety & uncertainty

On a recent trip to Laos we came across a road blocked by a landslide and blimey that was a test in accepting uncertainty! Anxiety and uncertainty are true bedfellows and in this blog post I’ve written some of my thoughts and ideas around how to combat this.

Life can throw some proper curve balls that’s for sure. To accept the truly preposterous nature of life and how unpredictable it can be, is difficult. I personally find existentialism, scratching under the surface of the meaninglessness of life perversely fascinating. Though I find this interesting and at times very helpful, it does also highlight how uncertain life is. One of the main things I find clients with anxiety struggle with is excepting uncertainty. Often people will try and create as much structure as they can to avoid uncertainty. Having a routine or structure has been very important to me from an early age. Up until very recently I hadn’t really noticed how intrenched in my life it is. Parking in the same place, eating cheese sandwiches every day, having to sit in the same place are just a few of the examples I could give. Interestingly, these all could be neurodivergent traits and something I suspect is highly likely for myself. Whatever the reason, uncertainty can be difficult to take.

So, let’s have a look at some ways to deal with uncertainty:

• Embrace uncertainty- try and shift the focus and look at things from an excited place. Experiment with viewing things with curiosity and optimism rather than cautious and defeated.

• Bring things more into your awareness. For example, I could start to notice the way my behaviour is in relation to this need for certainty

• Once you’ve gained more awareness you could challenge yourself. For example, I could think fuck it I’m parking somewhere different and actively challenge myself. Over time, the more you work on this behaviour the less potent the anxiety will be.

• Accept your unacceptance! Maybe the trick is to be more accepting that you struggle with uncertainty. Founder of Person-centred therapy Carl Rogers once stated: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself, just as I am, then I can change.”