When Life Feels in Flux: Finding Your Anchor in Uncertain Times

Can you relate?

You wake up one morning and realise the map you’ve been using no longer fits the terrain. The job that once defined you is changing faster than you can adapt. Technology is rewriting roles overnight. Even your own priorities feel different - less ambitious, maybe, or just harder to name. It’s not exactly a crisis, but there’s a hum of something: unease, restlessness, or the sense that life has quietly slipped out of focus. If you’ve been struggling with uncertainty, you’re in good company - it’s a deeply human experience.

Why so many of us feel unmoored

So much change is happening around us that it’s hard to know where to anchor and how to focus our own lives. We’ve grown up believing we should always be moving forward, yet the world keeps shifting under our feet. It’s natural to feel stuck when the old definitions of success or stability don’t hold like they used to.

Sometimes that feeling of being stuck shows up as busyness - filling every moment to avoid the discomfort of not knowing. Other times it looks like fatigue, indecision, or “why bother?” energy. None of it means you’re broken; it means your system is trying to find solid ground in a moving landscape.

What’s really going on when we feel stuck

From an ACT and mindfulness perspective, the mind dislikes uncertainty. It scans for danger, plans, and compares - anything to regain control. When the future looks unpredictable, the mind treats not knowing as a threat. That’s why it’s so easy to spiral into analysis or avoidance.

The good news? Stuckness isn’t a failure of motivation. It’s a signal that you’ve reached the edge of an old map - an invitation to pause and notice what still matters before taking the next step.

Three anchors when the ground feels unstable

1. The body: Even when circumstances change, your breath and senses are constant. Take a few slow exhalations and feel the weight of your body on the chair. This simple grounding re-establishes “here and now,” the one place clarity can emerge.

2. The values that endure: Ask yourself: What still matters, even in uncertainty? Maybe it’s connection, creativity, or contributing in some way. Values don’t give you a tidy plan, but they offer direction when the future is shrouded in mist.

3. Tiny, values-based action: Rather than waiting for full confidence, try one small step that aligns with what matters. The movement itself often restores energy and perspective.

A two-minute mindfulness pause

1. Notice one thing around you that’s steady - a sound, the feeling of your feet, the rhythm of your breathing.

2. Ask: If I moved 1 percent toward what matters today, what would that look like?

3. Let the first answer come. That’s enough for now.

A gentle takeaway

Periods of uncertainty aren’t proof that you’re lost; they’re part of being alive in a changing world. With attention and kindness, you can learn to rest in the flux. Not waiting for life to settle, but learning to steady yourself as it moves.

______________________

If you’d like to explore another angle, you might enjoy my earlier article on mental exhaustion.

You can also visit my page on Stuckness and Life Transitions for a little more on this theme.