The images of the nocturnal tornadoes in the central United States on the news over the past weekend were truly devastating. The amazing power of nature: to be nestled in one’s bed or concentrating at work on the second or third shift and in minutes lives are lost, properties are destroyed, and communities are changed forever. Another tragic event in what has been a chaotic 2021, building upon a chaotic 2020. For certain, this decade has started off to be one filled with uncertainty and chaos. And it does not seem like the years ahead of us will provide any sort of calm.
We are often so busy in our daily grind that we sometimes cannot pull ourselves away to consider the long game or the long arc of history. If we look at the first twenty-one years of this century and millennia, it has been filled with chaos and confusion. It started with a disputed presidential election in 2000. In 2001 we saw the rise of international terror. In 2004 we witnessed catastrophic destruction from the Banda Ache tsunami, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In 2007 a mass shooting at Virginia Tech would start a trend that has yet to cease. We would go on to learn the names of places where more mass shootings occurred; Sandy Hook, Mother Emanuel, Pulse, Mandalay Bay Las Vegas Strip, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, Walmart. The financial crisis of 2008 would bring about the Great Recession. In 2010 a major earthquake struck Haiti leaving it in ruins and taking the lives of over 200,000 persons. And we would close the first score of the century with more presidential election intrigue.
That's the reality of our existence. Those are the historical facts, and all signs point to more chaos and confusion in the decades to come. This is where we must remain vigilant as to the reality of the conditions that we are in, but not conditioned by them. They cannot be denied, yet they cannot be dismissed. They cannot define us, yet they cannot determine our destiny.
So, what is our solution? What is there to counterbalance our need for vigilance surrounding the reality of national and global circumstances, and the inevitable natural disasters to occur? It is vision. Whether it finds its genesis in the individual, family, community, or organization, it is about having a driving force in our lives. We do it by having a north star, or meaning, or purpose that compels us to carry on. We do it by having something or someone that gets us up and out of bed ready to conquer the world. What does vision look like? It looks like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic launching humans into space. It looks like record numbers of new business starts in the middle of a pandemic. It looks like the warp speed development and deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Vigilance and vision are not choices to be made. They are not problems that require solving or dilemmas that need resolving. They are in fact polarities: situations or conditions where two interdependent and seemingly contradictory states must be maintained for success over time. We cannot simply have vision with blinders to the circumstances around us. We cannot simply remain vigilant preparing for and guarding against the next calamity. We must hold both concepts in tension and manage them together. They need each other.
One way to manage these polarities is with resilience. Resilience – which can be generally defined as the ability to bounce back from setback or to persevere through adverse circumstances – has received a lot of attention these days. There are books, industries, and bodies of work that focus on resilience programs and resilience training. The U.S. Army even has a Master Resilience Training (MRT) program built around core competencies needed for resiliency. Yet resiliency is more than just the bounce back, it’s also about our starting point.
Bouncing back from setback is important, but even more important is exploring where you start. Your ability to rebound from setback will be directly related to your level of positive outlook or positive mindset that you operate in daily. As the saying goes, your attitude sets your altitude. If you are not certain of yourself, have low self-regard, are not optimistic, or have limited personal power, you are not as likely to be as resilient as someone who possesses these traits.
If we are to bounce back from the challenging event, we will have to go through the event to get through the event. Having a positive mindset will assist in getting through the event. We will all face a setback or adversity of some sort in our lifetimes. Under the stress of the event, we will default to whatever base level thoughts, beliefs, and feelings are self-imprinted onto our minds. Thoughts of: it’s not going to get any better, this always happens to me, oh not again, can impact how you respond in the moment when you are facing adversity. Do you freeze? Do you put your head in the sand? Do you avoid reality and underestimate the circumstances that confront you? Conversely, thoughts of I’ve been through tougher things before, and I will prevail; it’s a global economic event and not specific to me; or what can I learn from this experience, will serve you better.
A bonus point: what’s the difference between a rubber ball and concrete ball? Elasticity. The concrete ball may crush whatever it falls upon or it may shatter when dropped, but it has no chance of bouncing back. It will either crush or be crushed. So, what must you do to avoid being crushed (yourself) or crushing (others)? You must be elastic! You must be flexible and versatile. You must be able to adapt to change – as that is the only constant thing.
Reflection Questions:
What challenges or chaos in your life must you remain vigilant about?
What vision do you have for your life that will serve you during times of adversity?
Reflect upon a recent less than perfect experience, what learning lessons can you find in that experience?
Where or how do you need to become more flexible?