Reflection: Onwards, Through the Fog!

Although other people might suggest otherwise, I cannot claim to "have my shit together!"

In fact, I have never made any such claim!

What's my point, here?

In actuality, I feel pretty comfortable in suggesting that most people are just fumbling their way through life... with no particular clue as to what they are really doing.

When I say "most," it's likely on the magnitude of two-thirds to three-quarters of the population.

Of course, this may not be a bad thing, really. At least not a critical thing... we humans tend to be extremely adaptable, and we manage to "find our way" through the most unlikely of situations, even when we feel like we have not a clue about what's actually going on!

Of course, many people are scared by the idea of a largely random and chaotic existence... but so few things we undertake are significantly predictable.

Sure, we can predict that next year we will be a year older... but we can predict whether it will be a hot or cold winter, and we can't predict the price of Bitcoin on June 30th, 2025. At least not with any degree of accuracy.

Much of our life is similarly uncertain. Most of the time, we're basically guessing.

Certainly, in a few weeks I'll set some sort of goals for 2024, and I'll definitely put up "some number" for how much — for example — I expect to sell of my painted rocks in 2024.

But it's basically guesswork, because there's a huge potential for variability, to the point that I could miss by 40-50% on both the upside and downside. Not to mention that unexpected things "could come up" and render the estimates/goals more or less irrelevant.

Much of the time, that's what we deal with in life, isn't it?

Hence the title of this post, which was inspired — in large part — by my starting to plan for the year that is to come... and realizing that I am pretty much guessing, in many ways.

Of course, I should toss in the footnote that these are the words of a fully self-employed person... adding the variable that I have very little idea what my income might be. I also have very little idea whether inflation is going to be as much of a killer in 2024 as it was in 2023... adding to the guesswork.

Even starting the process, earlier today, made me realize how much of my life has felt pretty random and arbitrary. Planning amounts to pretty vague statements of "I expect THIS will happen... unless THAT variable arises and renders Plan A irrelevant."

And so, I end up at the conclusion that much of the secret to a happy — or at least content — life is learning to make peace with not knowing much of anything!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2023-12-04 01:38PST
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