“… Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Uncertainty was a
fundamental part of nature, and what people knew–what
people thought they knew–was imprecise at best. It all
depended on who was telling the story.”
I read that in Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope series (Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante, p. 316) which got me thinking about uncertainty, navigating, and how we go about building our (rock solid?) foundation. What stories are we listening to? And how/if we understand how this influences our building.
These are a great number of issues, related and not, that impact on how we discover our foundation stones. Why we do as we do, believe as we do, has to rest on some basis and knowing our ‘why’ makes our beliefs and actions more understandable and ‘secure’. However, never fear a challenge to your foundation. It may be a warning of an area that’s not as strong and needs strengthening. Or, a new thought that may cause you to tweak or refine an area. Or… (fill in the blank). BUT, if it is a secure part of your foundation then any attack will never cause it to fail. If your reaction is anger, then perhaps it isn’t as strong as you thought.
Navigating should be a natural response to living in the world. There are always boulders and sometimes we don’t realize how deep they are ingrained, but we always have our manual (Bible) and our adviser (Lord) to help us through whatever we face. Sometimes this will mean navigating around the issue, sometimes it may simply be confronting it and as you move toward it, discovering that it isn’t as great a threat as initially thought. And yes, sometimes it means making certain your armor is on and ready.
Navigating, uncertainty, and stories all influence how we go from point A to point B. Uncertainty can become an adventurous friend or it can be seen as a threat to where we are and where we need/want to go. And many times this determination of which view of uncertainty we take is based in our experiences and the stories we’ve heard. How much do we allow the negative experienced stories influence what we do? Is this based in other’s experiences or our own?
As I’ve grown older I tend to view stories and my experiences as as information. Something to be aware of. Never forget that a positive experience with (fill in the blank) may not always repeat itself – it can become a detriment, especially if you don’t allow the ‘new’ to express itself as new. It still can be a positive outcome, but never assume.
Life is not on a ‘repeat dial’ because it is vital and changing and challenging and… and… Don’t live today in yesterday. Equally, don’t life today in tomorrow. The seas may be rough, which requires a different set of skills, or it may be calm, which require a less intentional skill, or it may change on a dime. I believe that navigating is a learned skill that practice allows us to improve when we take an intentional view of life. Uncertain – yes. And each day you begin a new story to tell, to remember.
