I have come to realize that life is comprised of small moments of clarity - tiny snatches of insight that like a flashlight illuminate a few steps ahead so we might move forward. Sometimes the flash of insight is only in our heads and we find ourselves, like Indiana Jones, firmly stepping into mid-air and watching with relief when a stone appears just as we plant our foot.

I have come to realize that life also includes a few encounters with huge amounts of knowing. Times when awareness clears our paths like Moses dividing the Red Sea. Yes, occasionally the oceans part, the mountains split and we can see for miles. Very infrequently we can travel forward with a map and sureness in our stride because our goals and the ground on which we walk are dry, firm, and cleared.

However, mostly I have realized that we don’t get to see forever or actually too far down the road at all. We don’t get to know everything let alone know very much at one given moment. Life is mostly fuzzy and unclear.

If what I’ve written here is true, then this following quote is critically useful:

“The competitive advantage usually rests with the party best able to handle and use the ambiguity.” Danah Zohar, Rewiring the Corporate Brain.

So, what can we do to handle the ambiguity? I only know a few answers and yet these I’ll gladly share:

We have to stop trying so hard to make some things happen and allow the organic parts of life to grow on their own over time. Our best approach is to learn what is organic and can grow, such as a relationship, and what is not organic and needs mechanical help, such as fixing a flat tire as soon as possible.

We have to anchor into a source of insight and clarity on a daily and sometimes hourly basis in order to know where to place our feet, nod our head, or direct our attention. Therefore be sure to regularly plug into a source of inspiration.

Finally, we have to be fully present in the moment at hand. If we live acutely aware and well in the fleeting elements of the “now ” then the future will create itself perfectly for when we arrive. We need not worry, we only need to be completely alive minute-by-minute with the clarity we do have and trust everything else is being taken care of.