Be Comfortable in the Grey

Many people struggle with uncertainty. They want everything clear and precise. They want decisions that are complete opposites.

But in life, we must become comfortable operating when there isn’t a black and white answer. We need to become optimistic to proceed when we don’t know exactly how it will all turn out.

Years ago, I taught college courses for audio engineering. In one of the classes, we had a lab inside a recording studio. In the lab, we taught about audio transducers. Transducers are a fancy way of saying it is a device that converts one type of energy into another corresponding type of energy. Or to be even simpler, we covered microphones and speakers.

During the lab, the teacher assistant and I fielded all sorts of questions from students. We would discuss a particular microphone with the various features and benefits.

But with most of the questions asked, we gave the same response. We often said, “it depends.”

Students would get frustrated because they wanted to know the absolute answer. But we knew that there wasn’t an absolute answer.

This is why there are different microphones used for different vocalists or instruments. Asking which vocal microphone is best is like asking what the best vehicle is. Someone might think a Toyota is the best while another would point to BMW.

And if you say you want a vehicle that can tow a lot, the answer is different than if you want to drive fast. Both are different than if you want to sometimes tow and sometimes drive fast. And it depends how much you need to tow.

Microphones were the same way. Taylor Swift might use a vintage tube microphone while Eddie Vedder might use a dynamic microphone. Even the artist might change. Taylor Swift might use one microphone early in her career but prefer a different one for a later album.

In life, we need to become comfortable with the complexity. We need to know that there are different situation and require different tactics. What worked well for one might not be idea for another.

The better you can become at navigating this grey area the better you will be to create the life you desire. Instead of absolutes, you will search for improvements. This will lead you on a path of ever-improving tactics instead of waiting for the one absolute tactic that will make all the difference.