In these confusing, troubling and unknown times, it is hard to know exactly how to respond. Life is changing from several angles at once. When I was doing bounty hunting, I tried to imagine about every scenario I could imagine and work through it, plan how to act and know what risks were involved. I believe that being PRO-active is better than RE-active. When you react, you usually do so in an emotional state…and that’s not a good way to make decisions. Obviously, I couldn’t have known EVERYTHING that was going to happen so indeed I came upon several cases where I had to figure my strategy out while I was running (sometimes literally).
I will bare myself a bit and tell you that I don’t usually get mad very often. Maybe a couple of times a year. Trouble with that is; I never learned HOW to be mad, the ‘right’ way. So I usually ended up reacting in emotions and always doing something I regretted later. So when things get crazy or circumstances throw themselves at you from left field…if you are caught off guard, it can be very difficult to know the ‘right’ way to respond. Right now, we, as a Nation and as a Globe, are experiencing things in a much different way. I am not talking about the virus…for all we know, it will be over in 2 weeks and the cure might end up being to eat green M&M’s – that part we do not have control over. I AM talking about the way society is reacting to this. I feel heart-broken for all those small business owners (especially restaurants) that risk losing their whole livelihood because of the sheer panic that has happened. The fear of something that may or may not have existed has created it’s own reality…toilet paper? Really? The restaurants are closing…what are you planning to eat that requires THAT much TP? Never mind – don’t answer that. But there was a shortage until so many people hoarded it, that now there is a shortage. I understand, it’s all new to us. We haven’t been through a media-hyped disease like this before. It’s sad, it is maddening and it is illogical…BUT…it is what it is so we need to adapt.
Peoples jobs may have been dissolved, businesses closed or seriously dampened, it may be dark and scary right now. I saw a picture of Vegas yesterday where they have 200K unemployed almost overnight and the strip was DARK. This is the same strip that used so much electricity, they had to put in a dam nearby to handle it. And now it is barren. That will end up being the image (so far) that will be burned in my mind much like the sight of a silhouette of a plane in the sky following 9/11. We weren’t expecting this…no one was. So, the question is: Now what?
We have several options. We can freeze like the proverbial deer in headlights, we can panic and scream in our pillows in our quarantined homes, we could look at the TV and listen to the media make everything even worse, and we could become these selfish, greedy, parsimonious Scrooges. But I would like to suggest something to consider as an alternative: Pivot. Sure the path we had set before us previously may have changed or vanished altogether. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a new one. Find some time to sit in a chair in your back yard, or in the comfort of the laundry room, but shake off the panic and fear and try to think dispassionately so you can begin to see things clearly. Maybe you need to find a completely new career, maybe buying that house is off the table, maybe you need to rethink your goals. Great! Those are all good ideas, and do them with your significant other and then you are on the same path and can double your efforts…even if it means one of you is the DOer and the other is the cheerleader. It helps to have someone in your corner no matter what. Think outside your previous constrains, because they may not exist or matter anymore.
Changes in your circumstances could be a giant opportunity to re-examine many things in your life and rather than quit; you pivot.