No matter how blessed your life may be, you will never be free from uncertainty. To live is to be uncertain. Even with the best laid plans, you simply can’t know what is coming next. When you’re a caregiver for someone with dementia like I am…. I know the uncertainty of the disease is always on my mind. But I don’t want to live in a constant state of uncertainty and worry. So I figure I have two choices – I can fret and worry about the uncertain, or I can embrace it. I had to learn to embrace it. If you want to be the type of person that embraces uncertainty, then follow the tips below.
- Acknowledge Your Uncertainty As A full-time caregiver for my mom with dementia, uncertainty is a daily thing. But acknowledging uncertainty is the first step towards embracing it. You need to acknowledge that life is full of uncertainty and there is nothing you can do about it. Once you have accepted that universal truth, you can focus on embracing uncertainty
- Reframe Uncertainty as Excitement Yes, it can be scary when you don’t know what is going to happen next. But guess what? Not knowing what’s next can be exciting too! Some days mom wakes up talkative and engaging. When that happens it’s a great day for us both. So I have learned to embrace the excitement of the unknown.
- Remember, You Can Handle It! Never forget that you are a strong, capable person who can handle anything that comes your way. Life is full of trials and tribulations, who better to conquer them than you? Focus on building your self-confidence, and you’ll notice the fear of uncertainty begin to slip away.
- Embrace Imperfection You can try your very best, but not everything is going to work out exactly the way you want. That’s OK! By letting go of perfection, you free yourself from worrying about everything going exactly right. Obviously, it’s great when things work out, but sometimes life’s most rewarding experiences happen when they don’t.
- Prepare for Different Outcomes One way to deal with uncertainty is to be as prepared as possible for it. An easy way to do that is to prepare for different outcomes. You can’t possibly plan the outcome for every situation, but that’s OK. If you just focus on the most likely outcomes, you’ll feel much surer of yourself.
- Focus on the Things You Can Control Listen, a large part of our lives is simply out of our control. That can be an overwhelming feeling for some people. If you’re feeling this way, try and focus on the things you can control. This will help you feel more in control. You can’t change the things out of your control, so why waste energy trying?
- Live in the Present Sometimes we struggle with living in the present. We shouldn’t be taking life for granted, but all too often we fret about the future, or obsess over the past. When we live in the moment, we get to truly enjoy our experiences. As a bonus, focusing on the present is a great way to stop worrying about the uncertainty of the future.
- Remember Everything You Have While you’re worrying about the uncertainty of the future, don’t forget to reflect on the past. All your past experiences were once an uncertainty after all. Take stock of all the great things you have in your life. Appreciate where you have come from. You will worry less about the future when you recognize just how far you have come.
- Welcome Failure One of the biggest reasons we fear uncertainty is because we are scared of failing in some way. The thing is, failure is nothing to be feared! Failure is nothing more than a lesson learned. The lesson may be painful but it’s almost always impactful. If you look at a failure as a normal part of your journey, you’ll feel much more comfortable with uncertainty.
ACTIONABLE STEPS
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| Take some time to brainstorm all the things in your life you are uncertain about. Don’t worry about any wrong answers, just jot down everything that comes to mind. | Now look at this list and pinpoint the 3-5 things that you feel most uncertain about. Focus on choosing things that you worry about most often. | Think about the most likely outcomes for each choice and make action plans of how you will deal with them. You will be surprised how much better you feel after this. |
So, as you live with the uncertainty caregivers face daily, how are you going to embrace it?
I’d love to know.
Comment below.