The future is always unknown and to deal with it, our minds have evolved a system of making assumptions and drawing conclusions. We hardly ever notice this nearly automatic process, but even putting a slight focus on it can lead to some truly significant improvements in our experience of life. As with everything else in life, there’s a lot to see when you open your eyes.

 

Transcript

          We each have a remarkable intelligence that science is just beginning to understand. And learning some basic things about how it works can really help us boost our personal growth and improve every aspect of our lives.

          So, here are two fundamentals to consider. They’re simple, but very profound. The first one is that uncertainty is a constant factor in our lives. And the second one is that to deal with it, we make assumptions and draw conclusions all the time.  

          Uncertainty underlies all life on earth, simply because the future is always uncertain. It just hasn’t happened yet. And when it does, even though we’ve planned for it, it may be quite different from what we expected. And it can be traumatic.

          Look what happened to JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and John Lennon, to name just a few famous icons who died unexpectedly. We’ve all seen pictures of them right before tragedy struck and none of them had any idea that they had come to the end of their time on Earth. Of course, these are extremely dramatic examples, but the principle of uncertainty is always in play here, even down to the most mundane moments of our lives.

          We’re all in the same boat on this one. The truth is, no matter who you are, how much you’ve accomplished in your life, or how great you are at planning, in all things, both major and minor, nobody ever really knows what’s coming next.

          Now as rational creatures, we want to be in control as much as possible, so we don’t like uncertainty. Still our minds have evolved a basic system to deal with it. We take information, make some assumptions about it, draw some conclusions and then take action. Of course, this is a really old strategy. As a species, we’ve been doing it since we first began to think.  And although we all do it, all day long, we barely notice it. 

          Take, for example, the simple act of driving your car through the traffic light at an intersection. When the light is green, you go.  But when you do, you are actually making an assumption. You are assuming that the cars approaching the other way, where the light is red, will stop. Drawing this conclusion, you go. This is a perfect example because we’ve made an assumption that has triggered an action, while having no awareness of it at all. It’s the most common thing in the world.

          Of course, there’s an element of uncertainty here because sometimes a car will run the red light on the other side of the intersection, creating a real mess.  Which leads to a critical problem about drawing conclusions and it’s something we all know, all too well. Sometimes, the conclusions that we draw can be just plain wrong.

          Abraham Lincoln used to tell a great story that illustrates the situation perfectly. As with all the tales in Lincoln lore, there are many different anecdotes about it, but according to one popular version, he told the story in the late 1840’s, when he was a lawyer, riding the 8th Judicial Circuit in Central Illinois. This was long before his national reputation was established, but it shows his endearing genius for using humor to put people at ease while driving his point home. It was always one of his most powerful traits.

          Lincoln was defending a client in a murder case, and in the beginning of his closing argument to the jury he said, “Well, you’ve heard all the facts of the case and now it’s time for you to go into the jury room and draw your conclusion as to whether you think my client is guilty or innocent. But be careful here, because things aren’t always what they seem to be.”

          Then he went on to tell them about a prosperous farmer who owned a huge spread in Illinois. One day, as he was having an important meeting with some of his top managers, his 11-year-old son came bursting into the room, out of breath.  “Pa! Pa!” he shouted.  “You gotta come with me right now!!!”

          “What is it son?” the farmer asked. “We’re in the middle of some really important things here and I don’t think I can leave.”

          “But, Pa,” he replied. “You have to. I just followed one of the field hands to the back kitchen door and one of the kitchen maids came out and met him. They started walking over to the big barn. I followed them and made sure they didn’t see me.” He paused, catching his breath. “I stayed out of sight, but I could see them real good. They climbed up into the hay loft and the field hand, he pulled his pants down and the kitchen maid, she pulled her dress up. And Pa, you gotta come with me right now,” he panicked. “They’re about to pee all over our best hay!”

          Of course, everyone in the room burst out laughing, but the father just looked at his child with a kindly, bemused smile. “Son,” he said compassionately, “it sounds to me like you’ve got your facts straight. But I think you’re drawin’ the wrong conclusion.”

          Now this is a great story for a couple of reasons. The first one is obvious. In a wise and witty way, it illustrates the point that things aren’t always what they seem to be, and the conclusions we draw can be way off, even though they may seem logical enough to us,

          But the second point is a little more subtle. Because the boy hadn’t reached puberty yet, the conclusion he drew about what he had seen was the only one that made any sense to him. The real motive behind the secret excursion into the barn would have never occurred to him at this stage of his development.

          Of course, his innocent belief was hysterical to all the men in the room because they had all grown through that most unlikely transition from boy to man, so what was about to happen in the hayloft was certainly no mystery to them. They fully understood it, and they understood it from direct personal experience, which is always the most striking frame of reference.  

          Now, there may also be a little more for us to see here, if we want to take a slightly deeper dive. According to some wisdom traditions, making the physical change from child to adult isn’t the only metamorphosis available to us in this lifetime. We can also grow through evolutions of inner awareness, which can bring about major changes in us that can be just as dramatic as the physical ones, if not more so.

          It’s an interesting idea. Look what happened when we grew from age 10 to age 20. What an enormous change that was, from how we looked, how we felt, how we saw the world and ourselves in it, and most importantly, how we thought, including all of our beliefs, assumptions, and conclusions.

          Maybe, in the same way, as we grow through these higher levels of inner awareness, we can start experiencing life in a very different way, with far less fear and frustration and far more wisdom, understanding, peace and joy alive in our hearts. Who knows?  We can always look back and see who we became, but we can’t look forward and see who we become. It’s all in the uncertain future.    Which brings us back to where we started - assumptions and uncertainty. With assumptions, we know that they’re always based on our level of development.  In Lincoln’s story, the boy really was upset because he truly believed that his family’s best hay was about to be spoiled by the rude couple. Of course, in a few short years, his whole point of view would radically change.  

          It could be the same for us as we grow on the inside. We each have a huge number of beliefs, with assumptions that we’re hardly aware of, including some existential ones about who we are, why we’re here, and what our true potential as a human being is, among countless others.

          These beliefs could all change radically, or even be replaced by actual knowledge, which would be astounding. Afterall, beliefs can be right or wrong, but real knowledge is for certain.   

          Which leads us to uncertainty and how we deal with it.  According to the teachings of some wisdom traditions, even in the face of the constant uncertainty of our outer world, there is great certainty within us. And if we choose, we can connect with it in a most simple, yet surprisingly effective way. You might want to give it a try.

          Every once in a while, just stop and ask yourself if you’re still breathing, then focus on your breath for just a few seconds. Of course, you will find that no matter what’s happening to you, for good or for bad, the answer to your question will always be – yes. Yes, as a matter of fact, I am still breathing.

          Now, this tiny exercise connects us to an enormous fact, which is that every single thing that is happening in our lives is completely dependent on the fact that we are still breathing. And when you pay even the slightest attention to it, you can see that the breath, which is the absolute source of life for us, is totally beyond our control. It is happening by a power all its own. And if the very basis of our life is beyond our control, even though we still need to do our very best, what does that say about how much in control of anything we actually are?

          According to the information, the more we become grateful for our breath, the more evolved our consciousness will become, bringing about changes in our being that may be unimaginable to us in our current state of development.   

          Remarkably, this understanding about the power of the breath has been around for thousands upon thousands of years, taught in every culture throughout the world, so you gotta figure that there must some reason why it’s been so popular with so many saints and sages throughout the ages.

          Personally, I’ve been trying to embrace it myself for quite some time now, and I haven’t found any downside to it yet. And for me, that’s a pretty big statement after living all these years in this realm of constant up and down.

          Well, that’s it for now. As always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened and let’s get together in the next episode.