Unless you are a psychic/ astrologer/ somewhere close to being a god-man/woman, chances are, your life is full of uncertainty. You can always hope things turn out a certain way, but you can never be sure. This is the story of our lives. No matter how far you’ve come or how confident you are, you are always a tad unsure about how life would turn out – “Will I get to work on time?, Will I miss the train?,  Will I pass my exams?, Will I beat those deadlines?, Will I? Won’t I?”

It’s this sense of uncertainty that keeps us on our toes all the time. It’s responsible for keeping us focused on the task at hand while also adding a sense of urgency to it.

Imagine living a life full of certainty. Knowing everything before it happens – with no traces of suspense and no mark of the unknown. Life then would be mundaneness in all its glory. You would have nothing to look forward to, no anxiety attacks and those tinges of nervousness before any significant task would be non-existent entities.

How exciting no? And unimaginably boring too..

Uncertainty makes our lives interesting. Admit it, losing all your nails during a game of football, cricket, tennis or whatever other sport you’re into has never left you wallowing in regret – unless of course, your team lost on the day. Even then, a close loss wouldn’t leave you feeling as bad as a comprehensive loss would. Interestingly, post a close encounter like one of those games, you would likely still be full of praises for your team because they supposedly put their best foot forward.

Another example of this would be a thriller movie or novel. The sequences manage to keep you hooked by not revealing an important part of the storyline until the climax – your mind tries to unravel the mystery associated with the story in spite of repeatedly failing to do so, thus making sure you stay engaged.

On the other hand, if you were asked to watch that game or a thriller movie for the second time, it wouldn’t excite you as much. The thrill of uncertainty is dead and as a result, so is your enthusiasm.

Uncertainty may not be an enjoyable experience all the time and for many of us is a major cause of stress. Uncertainty combined with a lack of the “challenge accepted” attitude spells doom more often than not. Then, to rid ourselves of any unwelcome surprises, we make our way to astrologers, numerologists and the like. Nothing against any of them here, they do their thing and they do it pretty well. I have heard and read about a number of people who find such predictions to be extremely helpful. However, I don’t seem to enjoy them as much.

Uncertainty and Me.. 

Maybe I do enjoy uncertainty a fair bit. Few people do, and I’d happily be one of the few.

I also have a couple of reasons for the same.

1. Predictability is not my best friend, has never been and is unlikely to ever be. As a result, I don’t get along too well with the whole idea of an astrological or any other form of prediction. So yes, tell me I am supposed to do a certain thing at a certain time, in a certain manner, just because a few stars and planets eons away with no idea about who I am say so, I might not necessarily agree. (with due respect to all those who would)

                 Taking each day as it comes is something I can manage and I would                          rather stick to it.

2. As mentioned above, a certain degree of uncertainty keeps me on my toes. I hate to admit this, but I am the kind prone to complacency when something is guaranteed, and my experience with complacency has never been favorable. In case you think your’s is likely to be otherwise, good luck!

Being complacent is akin to signing an unofficial contract asking life to make you fall flat on your face.

   So what did we learn?

1. Embrace uncertainty. You won’t have to go out looking for adventures when life itself is one.

2. Taking things for granted = Wielding the Axe onto your own foot. (Which foot? You choose)