I hopped from one island to the next, making sure that no part of me was touching the fiery hot lava that was the red oriental rug. It was massive and took up our entire living room at our old house. Patches of intricate and ornate designs were evenly spaced out on the rug, and in its middle was what I referred to as "the island-country." That was the home-base for many made-up games, the time-out spot, the absolute center of my universe growing-up. There were too many hot summer afternoons when I lay sprawled out on that "island-country" staring up at the sloping ceiling of our living room, wondering when summer vacation would ever end.
The part of that lava game that I loved the most was the uncertainty. I would purposely try to hop over first one design, then two designs, not knowing whether or not I would accidentally turn into absolute 'toast.' If I did slip-up and fall into the 'lava,' I would force myself to start all over again from the beginning - until I had successfully made my round across the entire rug.
I miss those days! Not just the free-wheeling imagination of my childhood but the days when I welcomed uncertainty. Even if my uncertainty was completely made-up and 100% safe, I still intentionally inserted risky consequences into my games. This game allowed a balance to the consequences and risks that I faced in everyday life: the important thing was that I realized some consequences were controlled and others were not. I couldn't control the fractures that seemed to happen at random when I was young, but I was able to imagine consequences that were impacted by the voluntary actions I took. Maybe I am afraid of spiders, of weird sounds at night, and I am not someone who can stand scary movies - but uncertainty isn't something I'm afraid of. In my opinion it's not really an option or a choice I have, it's just the way things have to be in order for my world to go 'round. Literally.
I recently read somewhere that our quality of life is directly proportional to the amount of uncertainty we are able to manage.
Uncertainty is just a moment in time, but it never has to have the last say when the day is over. So, what are you going to do when the dice are rolled?
