The Troubling Uncertainty

If life comes with infinite choices, unfiltered selections should preferably be avoided. Whenever decisions come across as complex and confusing, narrow down and filter your options. And if the process seems unrealistic, relax and adjust your approach. Otherwise, it would be unsurprisingly understandable to see new victims of this disconcerting indecision.

For those who are lost trying to discover their path, proceed by elimination. The process might sound mathematically complicated, but it is as simple as follows: eliminate the options you do not want, and concentrate on whatever is left - and about to emerge. In practical words, make a list of whatever can come to mind, erase the excluded possibilities, and focus eventually on the surviving lines. In this order of ideas, three consecutive steps are clearly required.

Teotihuacán (Mexico)

The first is to exhaustively enumerate every imaginable option in an open way. This initial list has to be general and non-exclusive because the opposite would easily limit perception and restrict future creativity. That being the case, jot down actual ideas and keep the door open for new ones. 

The second is to get rid of whatever is personally rejected, and come out with a filtered list. This rejection has to be necessarily based on individual criteria in order to prevent regrets, and give space for a personalized choice. Therefore, the deforming impact of outside influence must be strictly avoided. While guidance is beneficial, pressure is irritating.

And the third is to select whatever is desired among the remaining alternatives. Normally, the decision at this phase has to be securely directed by both, passion and reason. While the former exfoliates what fills the heart, the latter underlines what the brain contains. Nevertheless, and contrarily to this classic tandem, some neglect reason and get driven by their mere passion. Regardless of the higher risk this reclusive path may contain, it can be a survivable and feasible one. But the opposite is not true; reason without passion is heavy and short-lived. And as Khalil Gibran once said: ”rest in reason, move in passion”.

Finally, whenever you face a troubled mind or an uncertain heart, remember to confront yourself and to never give up. Look inside and re-discover who and what you are, for it is only by returning to the inner self that you can clearly see the path.