Uncertainty! Limbo! Ugh!!! These are two things that I hate. I like being in control. I like knowing what is coming my way. I want to prepare. I want to get in the right mind set. I want to be ready. I cannot do any of that when nothing but uncertainty looms before me.
Can you relate? Have you ever felt stuck in limbo or had to deal with uncertainty? Maybe while waiting to find out about a job or professional opportunity, waiting on some medical information, or even waiting to see how a love interest or significant other responds to you. It sucks right???
I most recently experienced uncertainty just last week as I awaited some medical information from my doctor. Nothing life threatening (no need to worry) but possible life altering. I wanted to know the outcome immediately. Bu that is not how it works. The uncertainty left me stressed. Will the info be good or bad? Should I take time off work in case I don’t like what the doctor has to say when she calls in the afternoon? I don’t like being emotional at the day job. Ugh.. My stomach was in knots. I was extra tired. I was not sleeping well and having unsettling dreams. Clearly, I don’t handle uncertainty well. You would think trying to conceive this year would have helped me to manage limbo better. I mean every single two week wait between possible conception and time for a pregnancy test is nothing but limbo and uncertainty. Apparently it didn’t. Or maybe it did and I would have been in even worse shape last week.
One particular morning while still trying to figure this health thing out with the doctor I decided to go to work. I did not want to get up. I just wanted to pull the covers up and go to sleep and stay asleep until I could wake up to some definite answers. I did not do that. Instead I started talking myself into getting up. The thought that got me going was “Just focus on the things that you can control right now. What are you going to wear to work? What are you going to have for breakfast? Just focus on what you can control?” Have you ever talked to yourself like that?
A while back I wrote a post on things to focus on when life is out of control. Apparently that same advice works for when you are stuck in limbo and dealing with uncertainty. I guess uncertainty is one of the ways life can feel out of control.
When was the last time you were stuck in limbo and dealing with uncertainty? How did you get through it? Did you focus on things that were within your control or did you find another technique helpful?
