I set out to actively lead a life that truly feels good in the Spring of 2008 after a series of setbacks in my personal life. My aim is to spread whatever I learn about feeling good to others through this blog.
The Unknown Does Not Exist
Fear of the unknown - it’s one of our biggest fears as humans, probably even more fearful than the fear of change but if you really stop to think about it, it’s a rather silly fear because there no unknown, it’s a myth and doesn’t exist.
Where is the Unknown?
Think about it, when you talk about the unknown, where does it reside? Or perhaps a better question is when? For the purposes of this question I am talking about your own life experience, not those of others which you may never know.
Is it in the past? No, you already know everything that has gone before. You may have forgotten parts of it but everything you remember is known. Is it right now in the present moment? Again, no because right now as you exist in this moment you know what is. So what does that leave? The future. The unknown only occurs in the future and what do we know about the future? It’s another myth that doesn’t exist because as we know, tomorrow never comes. All we ever have is right now, this present moment!
But, But…
When I first had this thought that the unknown doesn’t exist my immediate reaction was to dismiss it as absurd. Of course the unknown is real, I can never know what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t know where I might be living, or what I might be doing, or who I might be with, and on and on. But all of these are in the future and they are only unknown when we think about a future event from the perspective of the present moment.
Here’s a real world example: I am in the process of house hunting and right now I don’t yet know where I am going to live. So right now, it appears to be an unknown but right now I know exactly where I live and once I buy my new house I will know exactly where I live and here’s the key - with every moment between now and then, I will also know exactly where I live! There will never, ever, be a moment in time where I do not know exactly where I live! Well, unless I’ve been hitting the wine paricularly hard :-)
What Time Period Do You Live In?
The problem for most people is that they don’t live in the present moment. They either obsess over the past, lamenting what once was, beating themselves up and feeling guilty about something that is now over, or they live in the future, worrying endlessly about what might be, what might happen and so on.
When we live in the present moment, many of our troubles disappear. I used to have silly thoughts, along the lines of “what will I do if X happens at Y point in the future?”. Nowadays I can see the futility of worry so I don’t tend to have those but I noticed that if instead of thinking in the future I just bring myself back to the present moment and ask myself, how I am doing right now with things just as they are? I usually find that they are just fine for now. When you take things a day at a time, or even an hour at a time, things can seem much easier than worrying about what might happen in the future and it takes away that fear of the unknown because in the present moment the unknown is gone.
Your thoughts?
Stumble it!
Jenny Mannion
October 9, 2008
Hi Caroline,
Wow! And I thought you were gifted in your internet marketing blogging?! You are, of course but I am LOVING this blog and your articles!
No, there is no unknown unless you are siting down contemplating or worrying and are not in the present moment. I was a worry wart and went to a nervous nelly. I now try my hardest to not waste energy on something that I have no control over or have no clue if it will happen…. Let the unknown be discovered and be known in the present moment — when you need to be ready for it — whatever IT is.
Thanks Caroline! Stumbled! Love, Jenny
Jenny Mannions last blog post..Train for Humanity