In an unstable and volatile world, certainty comes at a
premium. We buy warranties and insurance, pay extra for guarantees and avoid
the unknown, all in seeking to reduce uncertainty. Certainty is expensive for
sure. But is it valuable?
Investors often give up necessary long-term growth and
sustainable retirement income for the temporary “certainty" of fixed
income. They fail to consider that bringing fixed income into a rising cost
retirement jeopardizes their future even though it feels comfortable in the
moment.
People stay in dead-end jobs they hate because they have a
“guaranteed” paycheck. They don’t pursue their true calling or at least more
fulfilling work. They die a little more every day, all for the sake of certainty.
And then a recession hits, layoffs begin and they lose that job anyway.
People remain in abusive relationships for many reasons, but
for some, the uncertainty of being alone is more daunting than the misery of
the current abuse. They could leave and move on, but to what? What if whatever
is “out there” is scarier than what they’ve already come to know and
expect?
Being trapped in certainty is so prevalent that we have
cliches to describe exactly that. People who can’t “think outside the box” or
are “stuck in a rut” or find themselves “down in the dumps” or trapped with
“golden handcuffs” are all suffering from the same thing: they have overpaid
for certainty.
Certainty has a very high price indeed. It is costly, but
not usually valuable. In many cases, the need for certainty in someone’s life
is inversely correlated with the amount of fulfillment and freedom they
enjoy.
Certainty is not safe. It certainly isn’t freedom. Certainty
can hold us captive. Yeah, you might get your three meals, have a predictable
routine and know exactly what you will do every day while you are guarded by
thick iron bars. Certainty promises protection but becomes a prison.
We often do not count the cost of certainty. We fail to
realize that, if we are not careful, we may trade away everything precious in
our life to attain it. And what we understand only too late is that uncertainty
is inevitable.
Uncertainty cannot be avoided. It is woven into the fabric
of our existence. Because it cannot be avoided, it must be embraced. After all,
the opposite of certainty is not uncertainty.
No, the opposite of certainty is faith.
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