Uncertain times, fewer certain truths
~ what we ought to know about not knowing, you know?
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Uncertain times, fewer certain truths
~ what we ought to know about not knowing, you know?
Fore!
Forecast?
Either way, look out, the speed and impact of flying things can hurt you.
This is 100% new, and somehow also 100% ancient.
We’ve always known the future was uncertain.
Philosophers, mystics, and weather forecasters have told us so for centuries.
But now?
Uncertainty isn’t lurking on the horizon; it’s camped on our porch, raiding the fridge, or it’s a BOT answering our calls/queries, albeit badly ...
Seneca, that old Stoic, nailed it:
“The whole future lies in uncertainty... focus on what you can do now.”
Simple advice.
Brutally hard to follow.
We’re planners. Forecasting, spreadsheeting, vision-boarding.
And yet life often replies: “Nice try.”
So, when does the path fog up? When does it clear?
We recalibrate.
We zoom in.
We do the next thing the best we can, managing with what we have.
That’s not resignation. It’s resilience.
Not surrender. Strategy.
Every present-tense action is a vote of confidence in our future selves.
It says:
I don’t know what’s coming, but I’ll be ready when it gets here.
Uncertainty isn’t our enemy.
Paralysis is.
Let’s embrace what is clear: this moment, this task, this breath.
Maybe that’s enough certainty for today and tomorrow. Because let’s face it, we’ve had a few too many years of nothing near certainty: it’s not-certainty.
I’d love to offer punchy wisdom right here ~ something clever to go viral ~ but let’s be honest, there’s not much of that wisdom going around.
Sure, elbows up, but who’s got a grip on the public pulse or policy consensus?
Pick a side, pick a border, pick a battle: this isn’t just about backyards anymore.
The world has shrunk.
The pace has exploded.
And amid population booms, instant information, and geopolitical whiplash, it’s no longer over there. It’s right here. Fast, loud, and often wrong.
Yes, the planet spins at the same speed.
But the speed of everything else?
Dizzying.
Grab onto something, or someone, and hold on tight - what you counted on isn’t certain anymore.
The best people, the best inventions and innovations of all time are ‘old-school’ now or long obsolete. Today’s sensational product or service will likely be eclipsed by bigger, better, faster, new things than ever in history …
Our choice is to hang on for dear life, hoping we won’t be flung off, discarded or overwhelmed by the tsunamis we didn’t see coming, or to invent our new selves with the reckless abandon of daring greatly, not because there is nothing to lose. On the contrary, there is everything to lose. That’s not news. There is everything to gain, but we have to work for it.
Any illusion we had about it getting easier was just that - an illusion.
