AFTER thinking about what I want to achieve this New Year, I am basing my resolution on something a businessman once said: ``One of the greatest assets a person can have in life is the ability to live with uncertainty.''

I’ve often thought about these words as I’ve struggled along with most of the human race to make things secure, certain and stable for myself – and I’ve worked ceaselessly to create a sure-fire, reliable barge to carry myself across the sea. Yet, all too often precarious weather conditions have stirred the waters in ways that have rendered me nervous and afraid. And so it is my wish that over the coming year I make uncertainty something I accept, and something that can be a source of joy rather than fear. I live uncertainty as the company I work for continually goes through change, people are retrenched, working conditions are changed, I look for certainty and in the end I have to accept the ambiguity of change.

But the anxiety that robs us of our vitality is unnecessary in many ways. Because as this most wonderful of parables reveals – told to me – our quest for outcomes is just an illusory game.

“There was once a poor farmer who had a horse that used to do all the work around the property. The farmer would ride the horse into town to sell his produce. Then one day the horse ran off. ‘Oh no’, said the townspeople, ‘This is a terrible thing. You will be ruined.’ The farmer just smiled in a thoughtful way: ‘Let’s wait and see’ he said.
A few days later the horse returned, and with it, several other beautiful horses. It had been out in the field mating and all the horses followed it back to the farm. ‘Oh how wonderful!’ Said the townsfold. ‘Now you’ll be rich, what good fortune’. The farmer just smiled in a thoughtful way. ‘Let’s wait and see’ he said.

The horses indeed brought the farmer good fortune. He expanded the farm and started breeding and training the horses. The old man retired and let his son run things. Then one day his son was training one of the horses and fell off and broke his leg. ‘Oh no,’ said the townsfolk. ‘This is a terribel thing. How he won’t be able to run the business and you will be ruined.’ The old farmer smiled thoughtfully: ‘Let’s wait and see’, he said.

A few weeks later war broke out. All the young men of the village were drafted. But the farmer’s son was not taken because of his broken leg. ‘Oh what amazing forturn!’ said the townsfold. ‘You have the only young man able to work in this whole village. You will remain prosperous while the rest of us starve’. The old farmer smiled thoughfully and said ‘Let’s wait and see.’

And so the story goes on, for days if one wants to add and subtract. It’s a wonderful yarn to tell children late at night when they are troubled or when things are going badly with friends or teachers at school. Just wait and see is so soothing to the soul.

And really, we never known what the outcome will be, or why things are happening or what will happen next, so we may as well enjoy the moment. As my mother always says: “Everything changes.”

I guess the best way to live with uncertainty is to accept it and to surrender in trust to a power greater than ourselves.
But I have also taken a few tips from pragmatists on how to best deal with the uncertain nature of things. One wise friend says that in times of trouble she imagines the worst-case scenario. “If you know you can survive that, you know you will be able to deal with everything else in between.” Another says he has faith that we are always better equipped to deal with things than we think we’re going to be. “The experience we gather along the way when handling an issue teaches us how to cope with whatever eventuates.”

However, one deals with uncertainty in 2004, it’s interesting to note that the businessman I quoted earlier is now one of the wealthiest men in the country. Whatever wealth means for you – health, love, happiness, money – it pays to stay open to the endless possibilities of life …