Sureness is something like a neck brace, which we clamp around our lives, hoping to somehow protect ourselves from the frightening, constant whiplash of change. Sadly, the brace doesn’t always hold.

Gilbert likens “sureness” (the craving for certainty) to a neck brace: a rigid device meant to prevent injury by limiting movement. The metaphor suggests that people often try to immobilize their lives—through fixed plans, identities, or beliefs—to avoid the disorienting shocks of change. Yet change is continuous and external; it cannot be fully controlled by personal resolve. The final line underscores the fragility of certainty: when reality shifts, the protective story we tell ourselves can fail, leaving us exposed. The quote ultimately argues for flexibility and tolerance of uncertainty as more realistic—and perhaps healthier—responses to life’s inevitable volatility.