This one might be difficult to write about because I am not sure what to say or not say. Fear of Uncertainty is not feeling confident about what may or may not happen in the near or distant future. It’s basically worrying about all of the things that might take place in a given situation or worrying about all of the things that might not take place in a given situation. It’s also not confusing at all to explain in words.
What Causes a Fear of Uncertainty?
Say you are at work and trying to figure out whether you’re going to be promoted or fired. Your coworkers don’t appear to be worried but maybe that’s because they are not aware of the impending layoffs and/or bonuses. Did you delete the memo before reading it? Was there even a memo that went out? Or perhaps you’re at the roulette table wondering if you should hit or stay at 17 and wondering why people are looking at you funny. There are lots of reasons why you might have a Fear of Uncertainty and it has nothing to do with your gambling ability since you’ve clearly got that figured out to a science. Having a Fear of Uncertainty can make it difficult to make a decision knowing the impact could be substantial or result in no change.
Without knowing what could happen in any given moment, your mind is likely racing with hypothetical thoughts ranging from ‘will people like my outfit today?’ to ‘did I make a mistake marrying him?‘. Based on the fact your socks don’t even match the colour of your shoe laces, it’s like you weren’t even trying.
Can You Change Your Fear of Uncertainty?
Having a Fear of Uncertainty sometimes forces you to take risks, take chances, take leaps of faith and take other expressions that mean the same thing. While it can be difficult to not know what’s waiting for you on the other side of Door A vs what you are leaving behind by not going through Door B, it’s important to remember half of life is making mistakes and learning from them. It’s how you grow and the only way to experience regrets because there was Door C the whole time and you didn’t even consider it. It was right there! Make smarter choices next time.