The Next Right Thing

When you don't know what to do

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work.”

- Wendell Berry, from Standing by Words.

We all want to believe we are absolutely sure of ourselves – who we are, what we do, how we present to the world. It is important for our sense of self, our sense of certainty that we know what we’re doing.

But sometimes we don’t.

Sometimes we’re not sure who we are and where we’re going. Sometimes we find ourselves at a crossroads and are wondering how to make the next step. And what that Next Step should even be. The sense of uncertainty can drive us to distraction as it feels terrible not to know.

How do we manage this uncertainty?

A wee story …

When I was receiving support soon after the assault, I met a victim support worker a few times as I decided whether or not to report to police. Even though she is not a clinical counselor, I found talking to her quite helpful. She wa…