How Do You Deal With Uncertainty?

I try to make sure I am doing the right thing.

That may sound too simple for a question about uncertainty. We tend to think uncertainty requires some complicated philosophy. A system. A way of seeing around corners and knowing what waits for us before we get there.

I don’t have one.

Most of the time, I cannot know what is going to happen. I cannot know how someone will respond to a decision I make. I cannot know whether a choice will work out the way I hope. Age has not given me the ability to predict the future.

But it has made me more interested in something else.

Being able to live with myself afterward.

So when I am uncertain, I try to ask a simpler question:

Am I doing the right thing?

Not the easiest thing.

Not the thing that benefits me the most.

Not even the thing I particularly want to do.

The right thing.

I think most of us know the difference more often than we pretend we do.

That is where uncertainty can become complicated.

Sometimes what we call uncertainty isn’t really uncertainty at all. Sometimes we know exactly what the right thing is.

We just don’t want to do it.

If doing the right thing was easy, everyone would do it.

Because doing the right thing can cost you something.

It can mean admitting you were wrong when your pride would rather defend you.

It can mean telling the truth when a lie would make life easier.

It can mean keeping your word when breaking it would be more convenient.

It can mean walking away from something you desperately want because you know having it would require becoming someone you don’t want to be.

There are moments when the wrong thing comes dressed in very reasonable clothing.

It whispers that nobody will know.

That everyone does it.

That you deserve this one exception.

That you’ve already sacrificed enough.

And perhaps that is where character lives—not in the moments when right and wrong are obvious and doing right costs us nothing, but in those quiet places where we could choose differently and probably get away with it.

I have learned that doing the right thing does not guarantee a good outcome.

That is important.

You can be honest and still lose.

You can be kind and still be misunderstood.

You can make the responsible decision and still wonder afterward whether you made a mistake.

Doing right is not some bargain we make with the universe where good behavior guarantees good results.

Life doesn’t work that way.

Sometimes you do the right thing, and it hurts.

Sometimes nobody thanks you.

Sometimes nobody even knows.

But there is a particular kind of peace in knowing that when the moment came, you did what you believed was right.

Maybe that is how I deal with uncertainty.

I don’t try to eliminate it.

I couldn’t if I wanted to.

I simply try to make certain of the part that belongs to me.

My choices.

My intentions.

My willingness to do what I know is right, even when I would rather do something else.

The rest belongs to tomorrow.

And tomorrow has never asked my permission before arriving.

So I try to meet it with a clear conscience.

For me, that is enough.

Kyle J. Hayes

kylehayesblog.com

Please like, comment, and share

Resources for Hard Times

If you’re looking for practical help, food support, or community resources, you can visit the Salt, Ink & Soul Resources Page.

👉 Resources for Hard Times