Dealing with Uncertainty: The Chaos Lottery

We humans are uncomfortable with uncertainty. We spend lots of time and energy trying to predict the future.  This is a key cause of our disagreements.  We disagree about our predictions.

I once heard someone describe life as a “chaos lottery”.  That’s a great phrase.  I also know the military train soldiers to be able to deal with situations that they describe as VUCA, Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. That’s the nature of war. It’s also the nature of life.

Accepting that life is fundamentally uncertain is tough.  We seem to be hardwired to want certainty, to know what the future will bring, some of us more than others. But there are no guarantees.  We extrapolate from the present.

The answer: To stay rooted in the present, and to pay attention.  Pay attention to the cues you get from what is going on around you so you will be able to respond more quickly when things do change. But be where your feet are.

That way, you don’t have to argue about the future.