The Contingent Ground

“Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the Beauty of Becoming. When nothing is certain, everything is possible.” – Mandy Hale

Well said, and it certainly points to the incredible beauty of uncertainty, and clarifies that because all possible combinations keep evolving, all possibilities exist.

So, in my Layperson’s way of thinking, I can embrace my experience in a few different ways when I embrace uncertainty. I can be sad and depressed about some hurtful possibility or I can be overjoyed and happy over some possibility. But both of those states are temporary, sad will fade, happy will fade, and I’m left wobbling and balancing on the Contingent ground of life.

What if I trust the process? The process being the thousand of processes that compromise “me.” You know, the “me” that’s managed to survive addictions, crashed relationships, burnout, job changes, divorce, spinal surgery, and a brief visit to jail. And “me” is still here! Why am I not trusting the process called “me?” “Me” seems to be handling life on a contingent ground fairly skillfully!

Well, if it was me I would trust the process more, quit thinking it’s incapable of living life’s dramatic ups and downs.

Wait a minute, it is me. I am the process of “me.”

“Playing Ball on Running Water” is a book by David Reynolds. It’s a wonderful book about living life in a never stable, always changing, moving field called life. But I think I appreciate the title most of all. That’s what we are all doing, playing on a shifting liquid field, while we are changing liquid fields ourselves. (And we wonder why we get anxious and live in uncertainty?)

So you may ask, why the hell is this important?

Because everyone of us is on the same shifting ground attempting to maintain some degree of balance from one second to the next. It seems if we keep that in mind, it keeps the drama of being human from getting too crazy. We are all here, trying to get through this day, seeking some comfort, keeping the bitter at bay and attempting to welcome the sweet.

Trust you today, you’re pretty good at this living life thing.

Bryan Wagner