𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧.

We repeat the phrase like a mantra: "𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛." We say it, we hear it, and we nod. We accept it as the whole truth. But it is only a partial truth. A more complete truth is that life is a blend of the certain and the uncertain. We simply forget to look at the certain half.

Our past is certain. It is a finished story, for better or worse. The home we return to each evening is certain. The ground beneath our feet, the geography of our city, the rising of the sun, these are certain. Our core relationships, the people who have known us for decades, our parents, our siblings, our children, these bonds hold a profound certainty. Our own personality, the familiar voice in our head, the way we react to joy or stress, this is a known and certain territory. These things form the bedrock of our existence, the solid ground we stand on while we worry about the shifting sky.

The problem is perspective. We focus so intently on the shifting clouds of uncertainty that we become blind to the stable earth below. This focus breeds a pervasive anxiety, a feeling that nothing is secure. But this feeling is an illusion created by our own gaze.

So how do we handle the uncertain parts, the very real unknowns? We do not fight them. We make peace with their presence.

First, we build our resilience on certainties. We invest in our stable relationships. We find comfort in our routines and our familiar spaces. We draw strength from our known strengths.

Then, for the uncertain future, we shift from control to preparedness. We cannot know if a storm will come, but we can build a strong shelter. We cannot guarantee a job will last forever, but we can cultivate adaptable skills. We cannot control another person's heart, but we can work on our own capacity for grace and forgiveness.

We accept that some doors have not yet been revealed. Our task is not to spend our lives guessing what is behind them, but to ensure we are strong enough to walk through when they open, and resilient enough to wait with peace while they remain closed. The goal is not to eliminate uncertainty, but to build a life so rich in certainties that the unknowns lose their power to terrify.