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Healing • Hope • Growth |
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Samaritan Health & Living Center |
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Rachel Mickelson, Psy.D., H.S.P.P. |
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If you are looking for an article that is not listed here, please contact us via email or call 574-262-3597 |
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Getting Comfortable With the Unknown
Everyday every person navigates some form of uncertainty. Becoming more comfortable and skillful at navigating uncertainty happens when a person is able to name and accept the fact that uncertainty is a part of life. Moreover, it typically lessens the “deer in the headlights” experiences. As people build a tolerance to uncertainty, they are exposed to more and more novel experiences. As our experiences broaden, we grow and our perceptions and interpretations become more flexible.
It is the departure into something different and new that brings life its beauty, creates new opportunities, and enables people to grow. As we allow ourselves to step out of the ‘comfort zone’ of old, possibly outdated beliefs and assumptions, we create opportunities to notice and appreciate new things- things that may not have come into your awareness under the old assumptions. These new opportunities would never reveal themselves without a conscious decision to change, even if the end result is unknown.
Ways to increase your comfort level with uncertainty:
· Ask questions like “what are the other possibilities/choices/options for me?” or “What other things could happen?” or “What if…?”
· Work on limiting the idea that uncertainty is “unusual or different”, and look at moments of uncertainty as “just another of life’s challenges”. · Recognize confusion and accept it as part of your growth and keep moving forward.
· It’s important not to avoid new, even negative situations, because the process of figuring something out is the important part of the lesson.
· Rather than seeking that one, intangible thing like ‘happiness’ (insert your own, unique definition of happiness here), open yourself up to novelty.
Instead of focusing on your past assumptions, look for new ways to interpret the world and grow by focusing on what you don’t know. Be curious. Fail more and be happy about it.
Suggested Readings
Kashdan, Todd- Curious: Discover the missing ingredient to a fulfilling life
Peck, Scott- The Road less travelled
- Rachel Mickelson, Psy.D. Fall 2011 |
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Play: It Is Not Just For Children
As people age, they tend to focus more and more of their energy towards work and scheduling family activities. Although necessary parts of life, these steadfast activities can become boring and confining. As people begin to feel stuck, they may become frustrated, inflexible, depressed and chronically overwhelmed. In general, they are in a rut.
One easy way to rekindle some excitement in life is to play. Play, for no other reason but for amusement and enjoyment, whether in a group or alone, stimulates social, emotional, and cognitive growth. Play also decreases mental distress, such as anxiety, depression, or burnout. Play encourages people to be curious, practice skills, take risks, make mistakes and learn to think creatively and flexibly. Through play people develop resources that cannot be taught, such as self-efficacy and perseverance.
When work is overwhelming and the children are demanding, going out to the park to fly kites with a friend and have some laughs does more than take your mind off the problem. If flying kites is not for you, try something else: build a fort, play basketball, or learn a new card game. Play can adjust your interpretation of the problem and allow you to approach it with a new outlook.
- Rachel Mickelson, Psy.D. Annual Report 2011 (February 2012) |
