In making a hard choice, someone may ask us if we are certain. The notion of certainty itself conveys a feeling of control and of decisiveness. Certainty is a quality that we may admire in leaders, as we take comfort in the assurance that we are on the right path.

Experience suggests, however, that we may be equally certain of our poor decisions as our good ones. Wars have been fought with great certainty that later proved to be ill-founded. When we put on our cloak of certainty, it becomes easier to see those who express doubt in a negative light.

Uncertainty may suggest an uncomfortable level of ambiguity, but leaves us open to new ways of thinking and being. Rather than a recipe for paralysis, uncertainty can allow us to proceed receptive to the possiblity of shifting course.

While we may connect certainty with courage, perhaps the greater bravery lies with those who venture forth without such assurance. Whether facing questions of jobs, school, parenting, relationships or belief, certainty is a luxury that we rarely find.

We live in an age of uncertainty, of tenuous economic forecasts, convergence of science and shadow, or even the ethical lapses of our leaders. While it is tempting to lament the climate of our time and long for simpler days, I believe we would be wise to welcome and even embrace this uncertainty.

As we recognize the limits of our ability to understand and control events, we may become less quick to pass judgment, more prudent in our consideration for others and for the environment, and more flexible and willing to accept change as a natural part of life.

Once we move past the stubborn insistence on certainty, we may find that it was an illusion all along. In certainty’s wake, clarity awaits…

*special thanks to phdmuse for her contributions to this posting based upon our discussion on this topic

There is a sign on the back entrance that I use each day upon arriving at the office. The sign reads something like “Each employee must scan their card key and enter individually. No piggybacking is allowed.”

Since I read this sign each work day, I wonder about the effect of a hundred employees starting their day with these words. Where holding the door open for a colleague was previously referred to as courtesy or consideration or good manners, it has now been labelled as the scurilous practice of “piggybacking.”

Once in the office, I receive corporate memos addressed to all “associates.” I wonder if the meaning might be shifted with the use of the word “colleagues.” Does colleagues suggest a level of community that is lacking in the use of the more tenuous term “associates?”

I believe words matter. Contrary to the childhood nursery rhyme, words can hurt us. Likewise, words have the power to heal.

Through words big and small, we create relationships with those around us. Through these relationships, we create the society in which we live. If we choose wisely, we can build a better world.

Lately I have noticed something unusual in the flow of e-mail that comes my way each day! It seems that more and more notes are flagged with the little exclamation mark for urgency! In the body of the note, the sentences are often sprinkled with exclamation marks! Sometimes multiple exclamation marks are used in the hopes of giving added emphasis!!! Sometimes question marks and exclamation marks are mixed! How crazy is that?! I find it exhausting to read these notes and have begun to ignore exclamation marks, like those notes in the mail that announce “YOU MAY ALREADY BE A WINNER!”

my tendency in e-mail & informal communication is quite the opposite… i tend to use more lower case & ellipses to connect thoughts… to ramble in a stream of consciousness manner… at times this can also be exhausting to the reader… with so many stops and starts…

One idea about digital communication is that we now live in a post-modern age of punctuation where meaning is symbolic and new forms of written language may emerge. There are words that exist primarily in writing and are rarely spoken.

A different way to think about the same phenomenon is to consider the ways in which we try to imbue our words with emotion, without the benefit of non-verbal communication. Sometimes we whisper and sometimes we shout, but for me it is those multiple exclamation marks that I could do without…