Certainty

Certainty is a state of being certain – not a state of being right or wrong.

If you’re certain about something, all it means is that you’re absolutely sure about it. You have no doubt. But the absence of doubt does necessarily mean you’re “correct.”

We all want to be right. (I’m certain of that.)

Not feeling certain is a little uncomfortable, like that sensation of your chair tipping backwards and almost falling. Nobody wants to endure that feeling for too long. (Therapists call this feeling of discomfort disregulation. In education circles it is referred to a state of disequilibrium.)

I’ve previously written “Faith: Not There, Here” and “Control or Suffer,” which both reference one of my favorite phrases:

Dubium incommodum est.

Certum ridiculum est.

Uncertainty is uncomfortable.

Certainty is ridiculous.

Let’s face it. We all want to be comfortable, and we all want to be certain about things in our lives. We want our doubts removed. But the truth is, it’s not possible to ever be 100% certain. Life is always changing, always throwing us a new curve ball at the precise moment we think we’re settled in. (Think of how the seasons change, for example.)

Ben Franklin stated,

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

We need to accept that we’ll never have full or complete knowledge about what will happen. We must learn to become comfortable with the awkward feeling of disregulation and disequilibrium.

Spiritual-religious advice: Know that you’ll never have full certainty, and get comfortable with feeling uncertain.