trust in the unknown
Trust in the unknown.
This is a line from a guided meditation that I do quite often. I’ve been doing this meditation for a couple of years now, and it’s only recently that I’ve paused to consider what it really means.
Trust in the unknown. But isn’t that hard? Don’t we hate when things are uncertain? Remember back in 2020 when COVID hit and everyone started saying ‘in these uncertain times’ ?
The funny thing is, if you think about it, nothing is ever certain. Anything can happen at any moment and set a life into total chaos. We take for granted that life is stable and regular, and rarely are we prepared for disruptions. COVID taught us that, right?
In fact, the only thing that IS certain is that nothing is certain. Change is certain, at least at some point. Things are going to change.
So it’s funny that we’re so scared of the unknown when it factors into life in all kinds of ways. And I’m not just talking about surprises. I’m also talking about how everything that IS right now, everything in your life, in the world around you, in your daily routine…was, at some point, not here yet. It was unknown. It was nothing.
Everything that IS comes from nothing.
Can you argue with that? The table that my computer sits on once didn’t exist. Before it was a table, it was an idea in my dad’s head (he’s a woodworker and has made quite a lot of beautiful furniture). Before it was my dad’s idea to make a table, there were trees in a forest and metal from the earth. And there was a time before those materials existed in physical form. And at one time, everything that makes up my table was nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.
You were once nothing but, as they say, a twinkle in your parents’ eyes. And the same goes for your parents, and their parents. Your current life…whatever age you are, whoever is around you, the job you have, the house you live in…this assemblage once ceased to exist. You brought them together for the life you’re living now, but at some point, those things will scatter and dissipate and become other things. My life at age 56 looks nothing like my life at 26, 36, or even 46. Most of the cells in my body didn’t exist 10 years ago!
So…why are we so afraid of the unknown? Why are we so resistant to what we can’t yet see, predict, and understand? When everything we love came from nothing?
OK, I know that the unknown also contains stuff we can’t see coming, stuff we’d rather sidestep or avoid. But there are things in your life right now that you’d rather not have to deal with, right? Haven’t there always been at least some? Good stuff, bad stuff…it’s logical that we’re always going to have both. And haven’t you grown from some of the so-called ‘bad’ stuff in your life, even though you wouldn’t have chosen it?
Trust in the unknown.
I propose that the unknown is the fertile beginning and ending of everything. And when one thing ends, another begins. The unknown contains everything that will be here someday. The unknown contains the thought that brings a thing into being.
Everything we love comes from nothing, from the unknown.
How does this idea land? Does it make you a little less anxious about uncertainty, about the unknown? What if you could really enjoy what’s here now, knowing that what’s on the way will contain things you love, AND things that will grow you?
What if you could trust in the power and innate wholeness of the unknown?
Deep stuff, right? Want more of it? Tune into my podcast, coming home (to yourself). Or schedule a free connection call with me. As always, may your week be filled with self-love and rich insights. With love, Amy ♡♡♡