By Greg Primm
My oldest daughter Allison is a planner, much like her dad. Most Saturday mornings, she wants to know the schedule of events for the day. A recent Saturday looked something like this: breakfast, soccer game, lunch, errands, another soccer game, yard work at home, dinner, watch a movie, then bed. Everything goes well until the schedule gets interrupted or changed. You can tell she gets a little stressed that the schedule didn’t work as planned. For a while I didn’t understand why my daughter felt this way.
Then one day she finally explained it to me – “Dad, I just like to know what we’re going to do so I’m ready for it. It makes me more comfortable knowing what’s coming next.” As a stellar dad, I took the opportunity to explain that life isn’t always predictable and we can’t get upset when things don’t turn out as planned. In fact, I explained, sometimes the best things happen when we don’t know what’s coming up.
One of my favorite things in life is snow skiing. There is nothing better to me than a day on the slopes at Breckenridge, Colorado, Beaver Creek, or my new favorite — Park City, Utah. I love the physical challenge, the camaradarie of skiing with a group of friends. I even love the cold weather. One thing I don’t like? Groomed trails. It’s like skiing on a washboard. B-O-R-I-N-G. You’ll find me off in the trees — dodging tree limbs and falling in holes. On my last trip I even did a complete front flip as I emerged from a group of trees. I actually landed on my skis, upright. It was a total accident of course, and I should have broken a leg. But its how I ski. I get a thrill out of the uncertainty of skiing in the woods. Its hard. I never know what’s coming next. I sometimes fall, but not always. Being just a little out of control makes me feel alive.
Why can’t we live that way everyday? Embracing the uncertainty of not knowing what’s around the corner?
I’ve written about risk before. What I’m talking about here is related, but slightly different. Taking risks is usually something we decide to do. We make a decision to take the challenging new job, invest in a new relationship, move to the new city.
Embracing the uncertainty of life is more about learning to love the little twists and turns that life brings us. It’s something I struggle with. The seeming challenges of life are not problems to be solved, but adventures to be lived. One thing that is certain — “stuff” will happen in life. My best plans from 10 years ago didn’t work out. I’m not where I thought I’d be 10 years ago. In most ways I’m glad my plans haven’t turned out the way I’d hoped. I wouldn’t have met many of my best friends. I wouldn’t have worked with some great people.
How do we embrace uncertainty in life? For me its a conscious decision to change my attitude when things pop up. My first reaction is to get upset that things didn’t go my way. I have to stop and realize that the change in plans is not so bad, it’s a sign there’s probably more opportunity ahead.
I’ll leave you with a passage from a book I’m reading. The passage is about Faith. You see, Faith is not so much about believing in something that you already have figured out. Faith is more about embracing the uncertainties of life.
Embrace relational uncertainty. It’s called romance. Embrace spiritual uncertainty. It’s called mystery. Embrace occupational uncertainty. It’s called destiny. Embrace emotional uncertainty. It’s called joy. Embrace intellectual uncertainty. It’s called revelation. (Mark Batterson, In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day, pg 89)
Photo credit: clix
