Overcome Anxiety by Accepting Uncertainty, Not Erasing It

You’re waiting for news—an acceptance letter, exam results, or just a text that never seems to arrive. The air feels thick and still. Every few minutes your phone buzzes, and each time, your heart leaps before sinking again. The urge to know what will happen becomes overwhelming, and you begin searching for ways to read the tea leaves: fortune-telling, online horoscopes, Instagram readings, anything for a clue.

But every expert knows—and most anyone who’s lived through enough uncertainty learns—that the future won’t conform to predictions. The world is full of randomness and surprises. The ache for certainty is natural, but at a certain point, becomes its own source of suffering. Psychological studies of anxiety reveal that trying to control or predict the uncontrollable increases the very fear we want to eliminate.

So, the practice instead is this: sit with the discomfort, noticing the sensations in your body as you wait, feeling the tension and acknowledging what’s out of your hands. Preparation can help, but acceptance—that you cannot out-plan the unexpected—frees you from the exhausting vigilance that comes with constant worry.

Next time you catch yourself desperate for certainty, pause and breathe deeply. Acknowledge the uncertainty in your life right now, and instead of seeking impossible guarantees, make a short list of what you can actually do to prepare or support your well-being—like planning, calling a friend, or taking a small action. By gently shifting from prediction to preparation, you'll gradually strengthen your resilience and find yourself less ruled by anxiety in the long run.