Letting go in the face of uncertainty

The fact that we live in an uncertain world is one of the joys and horrors of life: anything can happen at any time, good or bad. 

However, the past months and years have been very different from everything we thought we knew; and in the face of so much uncertainty, many people end up feeling paralyzed.

A lot of people do in response to this uncertainty is

• Hold on to what’s been lost or what “could have been”… and stay stuck in the past

• Develop a fear of taking action: if we don’t know what’s going to happen, how do we know we’re taking the right actions?

• Try to take control of the situation: which is a good thing in small amounts, but trying too control too much at the same time can just wear a person down.

My advice to anyone facing any of these reactions is to let go… But for many people, letting go in the face of uncertainty seems like an impossible task.

How do you let go of the life you’ve envisioned for yourself? Of the things you used to believe would happen to you, the “truths” about yourself you’re holding on to?

I share my top three tips on how to propel yourself into uncertainty in this article in Psychology Today, with Elizabeth Cohen Ph.D.