Most of us can spend a long time, a really long time, making a decision about the future. Has this happened to you? I am guessing pprobably many, many times.! We all get so anxious worrying about what is the right course of action, and what will end up happening as the result of our decisions.

It might be something relatively simple like planning a family vacation or how to redecorate the kitchen. Or it may be a major life transition, like changing to a new job or getting more serious in a relationship. Whether it ’s a major decision or a somewhat minor one, any decision can still stress us out- with many hours spent going back and forth trying to figure out what to do!

Have you ever thought about why we find decisions so hard? I think one reason is we want to be sure about EVERYTHING. We want a guarantee that this is the best possible decision, that everything is going to turn out all right and that we won’t have any regrets.

We want to feel safe.

We want to feel certain.

Unfortunately for all of us, there are no guarantees in life and we just can’t predict the future! In modern day society, you can get insurance for everything. Insurance for your car, your home, your pets and even life insurance for your loved ones. But there is no insurance policy or guarantee about the future. We just don’t know what it holds for each of us.

And that can freak you out.

This is our human predicament that we spend our lives trying to overcome, and it can cause a lot of unnecessary worry and stress. Ultimately we all want to know how to find peace of mind, make the best decision and move forward in life.

I have personally gone through many periods in life where I would spend days and weeks worrying about the future. I was very future- focused but not in a positive way.

Sound familiar?

I was always asking: What would happen if?

I would catastrophize and imagine all the possible worst-case scenarios for any given situation.

It got to the point where my family even gave me a nickname!

Worst Case Scenario Sally

How awful is that!

About this time I started reading a book by Eckhart Tolle called The Power of Now. If you haven’t read it I highly recommend it for it’s inspirational wisdom.

The main focus of the book is to focus on the present moment, because that is all we have. The future never comes! All we have is a series of moments flowing into each other.

Focusing on the present moment liberates us from worrying about the future and dwelling in the past. This does not mean we don’t have goals and dreams. This means we still go ahead and plan for our future. We just enjoy the present moment we are in.

This was a light bulb moment for me. It was a complete shift in my way of thinking. I started to make daily efforts to focus more on the present and avoid falling into negative thinking patterns about the future. It helped me so much!

Here comes the next light bulb moment. We can even go a step further with this. Instead of worrying like crazy, feeling insecure and uncertain about what may or may not happen, we can let go of whatever will come to pass and embrace the uncertainty of the future.

Did I just use the word embrace? Yes, I did! The word embracing here suggests making friends with the future. Trusting the future. Yup. Letting go of what will happen.

By embracing the uncertainty of the future, we make peace with it and release the anxiety we feel. It takes time and patience to make this practice a daily habit but well worth it. It is such an amazingly liberating feeling!

We all want to know how to find peace of mind to stop the cycle of negative thinking about the future.

The key lies in this simple truth.

Make peace with the future. Embrace the uncertainty it holds and in doing so this allows you to open up to all the possibilities and opportunities that exist for you.

It gives you peace of mind.

it can help develop a calmly relaxed mindset.

It can help you break the cycle of negative thinking.

Bottom line is it beats wasting time worrying and being anxious. So if you want to really feel the peace of mind about the future give embracing uncertainty a try. You won’t regret it.

Author(s)

  • sallyforsyth@gmail.com

    Certified Life Coach, Founder of CoachMyFuture Coaching

    Sally Forsyth is a Certified Life Coach and Founder of CoachMyFuture Coaching. Sally focuses on helping people create change in their lives in order to move forward successfully. CoachMyFuture helps people build their best future to create an impact not only on their lives but the lives of others in their community.  Every small change we make contributes to global change to build a better future for the planet.