Back in January, when the new year felt fresh, a New York Times essay—“How to Thrive in an Uncertain World”— caught my eye.
Immediately a Pema Chodron title I go back to again and again came to mind.
Comfortable with Uncertainty.
Nuance is everything, Accepting that there is only so much we can bank on knowing is a given. But thriving in the midst of an uncertain muddle?
“We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe,” Chodron writes. “But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not-knowing is part of the adventure. It’s also what makes us afraid.”
Read enough of Pema Chodron’s books and you begin to see them as variations on a theme —getting out of our own way in freeing ourselves from patterns that really do not serve us well. Rooted in Buddhist precepts, the wisdom she imparts, sometimes detailed, is peppered with stories. Sometimes she cuts to the chase. The titles of her books speak volumes:
The Places That Scare You
No Time to Lose
Start Where Your Are
When Things Fall Apart
Watch her in videos and you feel you’re in the presence of a wise, witty mother/grandmother. A guiding presence rather than a didactic one. I am by no means an adept when it comes to fathoming the depths of Buddhist wisdom. I grasp tidbits, received with all the serendipity of messages in a bottle. For that I’m grateful.
