Coping with Uncertainty

Like so many people I dislike uncertainty, especially when it involves things out with my control.

This is where I find myself today as I’m writing this post. A few weeks ago I received a letter telling me that I had been called for jury duty with the instruction to phone the evening before to listen to a recorded message which would tell me if I was needed or not. My heart sank! I appreciate that it’s my duty as a citizen to take part but, other than a mild curiosity about how the trial system works, I didn’t want to give up my precious time.

Knowing that the week was coming up I wasn’t able to offer any daytime sessions to my clients and couldn’t commit to the other things I do during the week. Who would walk the dog if I was out all day and I would need to use the evenings to catch up on the things I normally do during the day (HORSES!) so evening appointments would be severely limited.

As it happens (I’m writing this on the Wednesday of my jury duty week), each evening when I have checked in I’ve been told that I wasn’t needed and to call back at the same time the following evening. So, to date, I have found myself with more time than I was expecting but with nothing in my diary during the day. I still don’t know if I will be needed tomorrow or Friday.

In the greater scheme of things this period of uncertainty has been relatively easy to cope with but it’s a useful example to illustrate the point. Fortunately, my clients are very understanding people and nobody complained that they couldn’t book their regular time and day for their session.

My top tips for dealing with uncertainty are twofold:

1. Focus on all the things that you CAN do rather than fretting about those things over which you have no control. This week, instead of getting frustrated with the system (even though in my humble opinion the system is in great need of improvement!) I chose to use the unplanned extra time to do some things which I usually don’t have time for, to do some planning for the coming months and to catch up with some reading. Thankfully, I CAN go for a ride this afternoon AND the forecast is pretty good – HOORAY!

2. If you feel yourself getting uptight and tense over something which you cannot control get yourself out in the fresh air (if it’s raining get the waterproofs on and go anyway!) and get some exercise. I can pretty well guarantee that when you come back inside you will feel better, calmer and more able to handle the uncertainty due to the endorphin boost you will have just given yourself.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE UNCERTAINTY? PLEASE DO SHARE ANY TOP TIPS!