Ambiguity. The other day I was walking down the hall at my school and I saw a sign that caught my eye. "Be able to accept ambiguity." Now I wondered how this could be a good thing? The definition of ambiguity is uncertainty. How can uncertainty be beneficial. Isn't it better to be certain, and confident in what we already know? However, my school has taken on the the concept of having a growth mindset over a fixed one. If you are resistant to ambiguity you might not allow yourself the opportunity to consider something new or different. It is easy for me to want certainty in my thinking. But I want to consider embracing some ambiguity in my life; allowing myself to be open to possibilities. Businessman Roger Von Oech says it well, "Take advantage of the ambiguity in the world. Look at something and think what else it might be."
Sometimes we are not sure about something and it can drive us crazy because we don't know what the outcome will be! Anxious people (like me) tend to look to the future, and that's where ambiguity most often lives. Right now, as Gus prepares to possibly retire in 1 1/2 years, there are so many things that remain uncertain. Where will we live? How will we care for my parents? What about his mom? Do we want to leave Columbus when we still have a daughter here? Around and around I go with the ambiguity. I have to tell myself over and over again to 'stop it!' Thanks for this reminder that it's perfectly okay not to know how things are going to turn out. The important thing for now, is to focus on 'now'. AnnMarie
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard one for me too.
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