Living with Uncertainty

Today I agreed to put new front shocks and struts on my car, for a total of about $1000. Something like this was not unexpected: I hit no less than three deep potholes this winter.  I feel that my car repair company is reliable and knowledgeable. But still I had a nagging concern that they might be overselling me on the need to replace both shocks, and the struts. When I was younger and poorer I know I would have been more mistrustful, getting a second opinion perhaps, and I wondered: Is my current trust misplaced?

Thinking it through I decided I was comfortable with that uncertainty. I was pretty sure it was good advice and it just wasn't worth the indecision, the extra effort, the number of unpleasant thoughts I would have in sorting it out.

All of us are more or less anxious and fearful when faced with uncertain outcomes. And many of us face uncertainties that are far more upsetting than a decision about car repair. In our technology-driven culture, more and more things are new and untested. From power delivery systems to passports, from telephones to tamales, so much has been redesigned or re-engineered that it can seem like very little of what we depend on is guaranteed to be reliable, sustainable or safe. We all need tools to help us maintain equanimity in the face of increasing uncertainty. This is necessary, simply to survive and stay sane.

For myself, I use my martial arts and my music training to help train my brain and body to take uncertainty in stride. It is an explicit element of Kokikai Aikido training to remain calm and centered during an attack, when the outcome is uncertain. And the outcome is uncertain. We train in in ways that ensure our partner's safety, but in real life, you never know. You might do everything right, and, as one of our senior instructors, Leon Brooks says, "Sh*t happens."

Jazz improvisation is all about responding to uncertainty, taking it, molding it, and turning it into something great. Mistakes lead to the greatest ideas...if you keep your ears open and don't freak out. I'm sure many artists and scientists would say the same about their work.

The word training implies consistent, methodical and attentive practice with a goal in mind. If a physical training is going to affect our mental attitude, then we have to train the body and the mind to coordinate and work together.  If you have some kind of training like this in your life, maybe you can use it to help you handle uncertainty, helping provide a shock absorber when you ride over the potholes of life...