Uncertainty is Exciting

I did not always believe this to be true. As someone with a Type A personality, uncertainty frustrated the living hooligans out of me. (yes, i did just make up a phrase.)

From career goals, to Friday night plans, I needed to know exactly what I was doing, how I was going to get there, and within what time frame. You can imagine how frustrated I got when the littlest thing didn’t go according to plan. When unexpected things happened, I internally (and sometimes externally) freaked out. Everything from “this movie night was supposed to start at 9 pm!” to “…but I was gonna MARRY him!”

Everything had a plan. A very specific, well-thought out (sometimes) plan.

After a long time of constantly planning ahead, years of frustration when things changed, and a nervous breakdown in college that required a visit from Dr. Mom (and a real doctor as well), I let go.

How much time had I wasted being frantic instead of embracing the here-and-now?

How many joyful moments went unappreciated because I was too busy rerouting?

When someone asked me what I was going to do after work, I started to enjoy being able to say “I don’t know.”

When finding a job in my career field was overly exceedingly difficult, I took the opportunity to work in different areas and explore things I liked.

Here’s the thing. My life would have remained uncertain. I could freak out about it, give myself ulcers, and maybe end up on some medication because of it, or I could just embrace it, and walk side by side with it, instead of trying to keep 3 steps ahead.

Since then, when I think about the most exciting times of my life, they were in the uncertain times.

When I met my fiance´, my life was NOTHING but uncertainty. I had not only started a new chapter of my life, but a whole dang book-series-turned-movie-series-where-the-last-book-is-split-into-two-movies.

And out of that uncertain time of my life, came the most stable thing I’ve ever been able to hold onto.

You should definitely have goals.

You should definitely dream big.

But don’t focus so much on them, that you forget to embrace the U-turns, the road blocks, and the detours. Because they WILL be there. You can accept them, and make them work for you, or you can have a nervous breakdown in the bathroom at work and have your roommate drag you home.

Maybe you aren’t where you planned to be right now. But guess what? Hardly any of us ever are.

If I were where I planned to be right now, I’d be unhappy. And I’d say “this isn’t where I wanted to be right now.”

Because sometimes, that uncertainty will lead you to bigger things than you could have ever dreamed of yourself.

I saw this at Trees ‘n Trends. Doesn’t exactly fit my “decor”..but the message fits perfectly.

-Rachel