All of us have a deep desire to know what will happen next.  Where are we going? What is the next step? What should I do now?

Sometimes it seems like it would be much easier if our lives were scripted in a book that we could read beforehand.  Follow the script, and you will eventually come to your happy ending, and everything will be alright for all situations.  That is just not the way that life works, and I, for one, am understanding of it and most grateful for it.  Face the new experiences of life and bravely embrace the unknown. You don’t have any other choice, and you have made your choices, which have put you where you are. Be responsible and own your situation, regardless of the fear and the unknown.

Don’t Fear What You Don’t Know.

I have found the unknown to be very undesirable on a few occasions. First, when things are going just wonderfully.  When you look around and think, “Wow, I am so happy right now.”

This attitude is a problem because if I feel on top of the world, I have the built-in fear that there is no place to go but down.  Since that is the case, I tried not to get too happy for many years because it could be taken away.  I never realized that happiness is not extrinsic from myself; it is inside.  I have had experiences that were fun, happy, wonderful, and I never wanted them to end.  I also have experienced scary, uncomfortable, painful, and sad things.  In the past, I thought that my happiness couldn’t exist in the presence of something terrible.  I found that my joy depends not on what happens to me but on how I look at the world from the inside.  We are not in control of many things outside of ourselves, but we are in total control over how we handle them.

I know many people who have everything they should need in the world.  A healthy relationship, money, family, you name it.  Yet they choose to be unhappy, which I can’t understand.  I also know people who seem to have very little but are extremely happy.  It takes me to a quote I heard, warning you to be careful when you find something that makes you happy because it can be taken away from you.   Happiness comes from within you.  So if you accept whatever happens as the experience that it is, sad things make you feel sadness for a time, but your happiness is not at the whim of fate.  It appears or strays according to your own choices.

Let Go

People do all sorts of things to make it seem like they control life.  We create strict schedules for our days and manipulate people and events to control outcomes.  These things never seem to work out in the end as we would like.

Often, the things we do to control life shield us from new and exciting experiences, and when it comes to business manipulating others leads to a poor working environment. Letting go of the need to control everything and understanding that it is impossible to do anyway is a step in a positive direction. You are just one person in the world with your thoughts, insights, and needs. Let others have theirs. You can only control your reaction to events as they unfold.

Make your plans to the best of your ability and allow things to unfold. The people you are with may surprise you with much more than you ever thought possible. Or perhaps with much less than you would hope. But either way, there is a lesson in it for you.

Not Knowing Lets You Grow

Being grateful for the things you don’t know is intelligent because it allows you to experience something beyond your scope of reality.   Most people would never stretch themselves beyond what they already know if they didn’t have to.

It is very comfortable to sit in your life, where you seem to know everything you need to be safe and feel in control.  Yet, there is the world out there that may require you to stretch outside of that comfort zone to contribute what you are meant to give to its well-being.  The Unknown Provides this.  Once a new experience comes to you, you have to experience growth to deal with it regardless of its nature.  If you stop growing, you will be moving in the other direction.  Nobody stays the same.

I choose to accept the unknown of each day as a part of life that was sent to teach me what I need to know to grow.   So today, I am grateful for the things I don’t know and hope I dare to deal with them as the experience of life unfolds.

Don’t let fear run your life. Be the captain of your destiny. 

“The unknown always passes for the marvelous.” Anonymous

“Replace the fear of the unknown with curiosity.” Anonymous

“Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.” Anonymous

“Going into the unknown is how you expand what is known.” Julien Smith

“We do not fear the unknown. We fear what we project onto the unknown.” Teal Swan

“A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown.” Tom Hanks

“Awaken your mind to the unknown.” ATGW