We are experiencing the end of certainties. It is difficult to understand and even more difficult to experience. Regardless of who we are and what situation we are in, there are no longer constants on which we can rely to move forward. Something like “mutual funds”. All the “capital” that we have collected, whether personal, professional or social, does not guarantee the future. This is because we are experiencing a sudden, violent many times, and rapidly evolving transformation in many areas of our lives and at the same time unprecedented situations, which are beyond our control, are happening. From one moment to the next we can find ourselves in new realities, and I think there is no better example than the coronavirus crisis. But this is only an example. We are going to live such “unprecedented” and “unbelievable”, based on our previous life, situations more and more often. And the question is: what do we do now? How do we experience something that is often beyond human endurance? My proposals to this question are the following:
Develop New Competencies
New skills, knowledge and abilities will help us to adapt more quickly to the rapid developments and changes that are happening around us. From making a new hobby to gaining certification in a new professional field, gaining new skills and knowledge can give us new perspective and new opportunities that will help us “sail in the new world”.
Ask for Support
It is not a shame to ask for help. Equally, it is part of our resilience and evolution in the uncertainties and insecurities we experience. People who either have the required knowledge or experience can open a new path to the unknown that we may experience. The more the unknown becomes known, the easier we can “walk it” and there are people who can guide us.
Create New “Constants”
I call “constants” those things that help us navigate our lives and provide some kind of meaning to our paths in life. It could be our family, our work, our friends, our social relationships or anything else. The constants for each one of us are different. If we knew how fast our constants would collapse, we would make sure we had alternatives. But we do not know. That is why the “cultivation” of new constants is important. It could be a social group, a new job or, even more simply, new social relationships. Anything that could be “cultivated” to replace the constants that collapse due to the transformations occurs.
Embrace Change
Finally, the most important thing is to create a new “vision” for us and those around us. To reconsider our purpose and our dreams. And in this context, and if that is what is required, to fully embrace change. To go one step further, not only to embrace it, but to create it. Now we need to start working on those changes that will allow us to create our new realities. And it is important to start with ourselves, with our way of thinking, so that we can also make the biggest changes in our lives. It is difficult to change our way of thinking. But the sooner we do it, the faster we will start living our lives again. And today, more than ever, we need to do it through actions, because as Nikos Kazantzakis said “the sternal, the most sacred form of theory is practice”. I will be glad to read your comments, as well as your additions to my proposals, so that we create a collective list of actions to support our way forward in this new era.
