Be OK with Not Knowing What Will Happen

Not Knowing

My tip for you today is in the form of a phrase that I find helpful whenever I notice that I am starting to feel anxious about not knowing what will happen next. And that phrase is, ‘More will be revealed.’ As in, Gee, I wonder if the kids are going to go back to school this year?  Answer: More will be revealed. Or, Hmm, do you think we will be able to have Christmas together with the grandparents this year? Answer: More will be revealed. 

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It’s not saying, I’ve got no frickin’ idea, this is hopeless, ha. It’s just acknowledging that you don’t have all the facts yet. And you’ve got to stay tuned and pay attention. It’s a little bit like a cliffhanger on your favorite show. As much as you may want to know right away what’s going to happen next, you have to wait a little bit for your payoff. And then, you know what? That payoff is just going to lead right into the next cliffhanger.

I know, I know, it’s annoying to not know how any particular story is going to end. But clearly, we humans also enjoy being left to guess or else we wouldn’t be binging so much video content. Because every show out there has built in mini cliffhangers in to every episode–they don’t even wait for the end of the show anymore! It’s like The Voice, before every commercial break they make you wait to find out how the person who got a four-chair turn picked for the coach. It’s annoying, but it’s also kind of fun. 

Not Knowing What Will Happen Can Actually Be…Fun

Reminding yourself that more will be revealed can also make those pesky unknowns in your life a little more fun. It makes you feel like your life is a novel and you’re the heroine, and while you don’t know what the next plot twist is, you know you’ll get through it somehow. 

And if it doesn’t make it more fun, at least reminding yourself that more will be revealed can make not knowing more tolerable. And that’s really what we’re after — to build up our muscles around being OK with not knowing. Because, guess what, not knowing is a huge part of life. It just is. There is no way to know how everything is going to work out. I doesn’t mean that you don’t work for the outcome that you would prefer, but it also helps keep your ego in check and protect your hopes from getting just completely shredded when things don’t work out as you planned. 

So, what’s going to happen with coronavirus? The economy? The fate of our democracy? More will be revealed. 

 

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