How do you abandon the illusion of control and embrace uncertainty?
We could be less anxious and less stressed if we gave up trying to control the uncertain future. Living in the now, choosing actions that increase the chances of a favorable state of affairs can be challenging and stimulating.
The uncertainty we live with every moment is hard to grasp. In fact, we tend to simplify the world down to something less complex and more manageable. But the simplicity and gain in control are illusions. So we stress about what will really happen.
Uncertainty is lack of predictability. Predictable situations are comfortable because we know what’s almost certainly going to happen. Surprises are just that- unexpected and unanticipated.
We know we can’t predict the future in part because  our knowledge of the world is generally incomplete. Since we don’t know what’s around the corner or what other people are thinking, that part of the world can’t be predicted.
Even with perfect knowledge, the world itself would remain unpredictable. The result of any particular choice is uncertain because it can result in a wide range of outcomes. We never know whether we made the right decision even in retrospect because we only know what happened after that decision was made. Speculating about what a different decision would have brought about is not very useful, because again the outcome can only be guessed at and never known. There are two many complex interactions and unintended consequences. Once the choice is made, the result is largely out of our control.
Interestingly, giving up the illusion of control is a core belief in religious and spiritual movements. Recognizing a greater power like God or Fate that controls the world is a great aid in abandoning illusions of determining outcomes. I don’t think spirituality is necessary to adopt an attitude of embracing uncertainty, uncertainty arises naturally in the world. But the attitude of humility gained by recognizing a power greater than ourselves seems to help in this embrace of uncertainty. Adopting this mental stance in making decisions provides reward in the  releases from the fear of unanticipated outcomes. It also provides a space for God or Fate to act even in a seeming clockwork world of cause and effect.
After all, the only truth certain is that the world is uncertain and truth can’t be fully known.
