In search of the normal day.

It is interesting to see how much comfort we find in controlling the world around us. We find comfort and safety in our habitual routines, the repetitiveness of the normal day. We may complain about being busy, or the weariness of our everyday ordinary life, but we would take that normal day just about any day.

We know what to expect on a normal day. We are familiar with our everyday pains and problems. We know what things we have to get done and what time constraints we need to balance. Sure, some of the day to day is annoying, but it is predictable.

In times of uncertainty, we still need to carry the ordinary pains of our life, but we are faced with the demanding task of needing to make new decisions without clarity. Every single day, the variables change and the choices we made yesterday need to be reexamined and thought through. The effort this process takes is emotionally and cognitively taxing. Layer on top of that anxiety and the existential threat of getting sick and dying, and you have a recipe for overwhelm.

Our bodies and minds are used to dealing with overwhelm. We are bombarded by information on a daily basis, too much information to process. So we put up a filter to limit what we notice, the rest is just noise that can be ignored and placed in the background. In order to cope with overwhelm, we yearn to exercise control over our lives and our environment. We set up boundaries, make up new routines or habits, set up a new cycle that we can repeat. We seek to recreate the normal day, or at least to build a new normal.

Uncertainty, overwhelm, seeking control and trying to find a place of balance and stability are shared experiences of the human condition that we have faced for millennia. Wealth, status, and strong communities can protect us from these experiences, but none of us are immune. The poor and weak suffer these even during supposed 'good times'.

To understand that, to bear witness to this basic fear and drive, is to appreciate the first noble truth- the reality of the human predicament.

Embrace the human predicament.
Let go of reactivity and fixation.
Behold our authentic condition, pure open presence.
Practice the path, free from the extremes of indulgence or severe austerities. 

As you become more willing and able to navigate times of uncertainty, you will also be more patient and understanding of the fear and uncertainty of others.

Be a light for them along the way,
a pole on which they can lean.
Be a center of gravity to revolve around,
as they orbit an unfamiliar world.