On what does our stability depend? On how much uncertainty we can “bear”.

We all know this sentence: The only certainty in life is change.

And yet it is the only certainty we do not want to accept. We get too used to what we know and thus feel safe and protected from adversity. And so we create so-called bubbles. These “safety bubbles” are based on our habits, ways of thinking, beliefs and values. They confirm our view of the world and ourselves. They give us a sense of permanence and stability.

But what is the dilemma with bubbles? They are not stable… and when they burst, chaos begins, and the world that seems so secure begins to falter. And when we can no longer bear the uncertainty because it has eroded the foundation on which we have built our daily lives, our perfect inner world begins to crumble.

And what can we do then? Well, we have two options:

The first is to throw ourselves into chaos and give free rein to uncertainty. Unfortunately, in this case, we will likely develop disorders such as anxiety, depression or even psychosis.

It is thought that the inability to revise interpretive structures after trauma could explain the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder. This could result from our failure to create an ordered narrative of the experience that puts our world in order.

The second alternative is to strive to reduce the level of the disorder until we reach an optimal equilibrium point that allows us to tolerate uncertainty while developing perceptions of the world that are predictable enough to continue our lives.

Denial of our shadows not only prevents us from recognising and accepting our wholeness, but it also becomes a recurring trap. Jung thought, “Those who learn nothing from the unpleasant facts of their lives force the consciousness to repeat them as often as necessary to learn what the drama of events teaches. What you deny oppresses you. What you accept transforms you”.

Jung believed that our equilibrium falters when we experience a significant event that challenges some of our fixed assumptions or beliefs. At this stage, it is normal for us to feel anxious, worried and disoriented. It is as if we are experiencing a psychological earthquake.

After wrestling with these new ideas, perceptions or shadows, a new attitude, belief system, thinking style, or adjustment eventually forms. Finally, we reach a new equilibrium that is usually more enriching than the previous one. Strangely, the more different this new structure is from the original attitude, the more stable it is.

In life, chaos and uncertainty reign; nothing is 100% predictable and inevitable. However, we often resist accepting the uncertainty.

Those who resist change accept constant suffering.

One strategy to minimise the impact of uncertainty and maintain our psychological equilibrium is to develop flexible mental maps of our environment that guide us through the chaos to achieve our most important goals.

Like us, self-organising systems constantly dialogue with the environment and must adapt to changing circumstances. If we cannot tolerate the world’s uncertainty, any change will destabilise us psychologically.

As William James (psychologist and philosopher) said, our inner life is fluid, restless, impermanent, and always in transition. These transitions are a reality; we live in shifts because everything is constantly changing.

Therefore, we must accept that we are balanced and chaos: stability and change.

Paradoxically, the more we accept chaos, the closer we are to serenity. The key is to take what we cannot change and to change ourselves to better adapt to the respective external demands.