How did we get here?!
What I do in secret, I figure that it remains between me and me, that I will bury it, if I want, in the silence of an abolished past... But no! There is no inert past. The past is a life that continues in the present. The past is a blade of which the present is the tip, and the tip is driven by the impulse of what was that, penetrates into the future to determine what will be. Each being, at each moment, performs an act that either saves or loses him. Thus, each being, at each moment, performs an act that saves or loses his environment, his family, his professional group, his city, the civilisation that surrounds him, to an extent that cannot be specified and that worries an upright conscience all the more.
If anything is certain today, it is the universal solidarity of facts and beings in every field and in every respect.
Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges-1941
Seven phenomena have led us to the various crises we are experiencing in all areas of society today:
- The passivity of religion
Religion is an intermediary for the person who wants to connect with God, with that which is greater than him or her. The feeling that this force exists is present in all peoples of the Earth. To get closer to it, they have organised the teachings of different prophets and initiates (Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna…) in the form of rites and practices that represent the external religion, the form of a deep feeling that has existed in mankind since the dawn of time i.e: the feeling of a perfect world from which mankind has extracted himself and to which he must return by listening to his heart in the labyrinth of life, through all sorts of experiences.
But since the form is so much easier to access, religions have made it into a “golden calf” before which they have always bowed instead of teaching the neophyte to prepare himself to receive divine revelation in his heart and to act from there. This attitude has led believers to a kind of passivity which has led to…
- The need for recognition and love
This need is indispensable in our lives! Our self-worth, self-confidence and membership in a group depend on it. Seeking the approval of others for this purpose is a feeling that fills a gap and therefore never allows us to live in accordance with our values and especially not to have the life we want. With this need, it is a planned life that is offered to us and that we will regret one day when it is too late. And this need leads to…
- Power
Power is a great responsibility! In the Bible, Jesus is very careful with power. His power was to serve all… We have come a long way from that example to the turbulence we are experiencing today. Everyone uses power to gain an upper hand over their fellow man and to achieve their own ends with all their unrenewed will and what that entails. For power leads to…
- Financial gratification
Power and money are intimately linked. He who has money has power and vice versa. These two elements drive the world today and everyone wants a piece of the pie. We can clearly see that this leads to…
- The crisis
What is a crisis? It is an unexpected event that jeopardises the existence or reputation of a government, an organisation, its employees and its leaders. It is a major destabilising factor, disrupting the existing organisation. It calls into question the organisation itself, its legitimacy, its management, its staff and, of course, its leaders, who then become REALLY responsible, since this term has characterised them for so many years. And the crisis leads to…
- The need for change
No more of the same thing, no more of the same result! A problem cannot be solved with the same thinking, the same structure, the same organisation that created it. The crisis requires radical change, not small improvements. The change required here is exemplary! And this will lead to…
- Healing
The cause of disease always comes from living away from the Light. Disease is therefore, in Paracelsus’ opinion, a form of healing. Crisis is therefore the healing of a sick world. Restoring order in ourselves will restore order in the world.
The current period of turbulence can be rich in lessons. It encourages us to better define our life project, to know ourselves better and to tame our fears
No one can predict when this period will end. It may even be that we have entered an era of uncertainty which will mark a significant break with previous years in terms of its duration.
Nevertheless, it is important to take advantage of the current situation to better understand the importance of everyone’s role. In order to do this, we must focus on three important areas:
- the need for an integrated vision
- elf-knowledge as a determining factor in the effectiveness of managing turbulent times
- taming of one’s inner insecurity to better deal with uncertainty.
- An integrated vision
When turbulence prevails, priority is often given to action in reaction to what is happening outside, such as: rumours, apprehended situations, facts,… rather than focusing on the image of the goal to be achieved.
And yet,! it is precisely this image, this projection, this vision that is a real lifeline allowing us to choose, among the possible scenarios, the one that will prove to be the most useful for survival. It is precisely this vision that enables us to distinguish the signals that point to the future from the ambient noise. It becomes an essential element of the sustainability of our life project and allows us to stay on course, to remember our priorities and to move forward despite the pitfalls and the fog of uncertainty.
Without this integrated vision, we are like a boat adrift in which each of us tries, as best we can, to make the best of it for ourselves while losing interest in the survival of the whole.
- Self-awareness
Surprising as it may seem, managing a crisis is first and foremost a relational rather than a rational act. Everyone must be led to put their individual interest at the service of a collective interest. But the main tool of this relationship is the individual himself.
It is when everything goes wrong that the trust that an individual inspires in us becomes the main driving force in our relationship with him or her. To inspire trust, we need to know ourselves well in order to be better able to know others and what inspires them. Without self-knowledge, there can be no commitment to a project. This period of upheaval can teach us a lot about ourselves and our reactions.
- Tame your insecurity
One of the important realities that we will discover in our search for ourselves in turbulent times is the impact of uncertainty on our own internal security. And if we seek to tame this insecurity rather than stifle it, we will become aware of the potential energy source that lies in mastering this insecurity.
This taming of one’s insecurity certainly requires a better knowledge of oneself, but above all it requires that we maintain an emotional distance from events while remaining focused on what needs to be objectively done.
In conclusion
The current turbulent period can be rich in lessons if we are willing to improve our discernment. It can serve as a reminder of the essential nature of vision, which enables us to do the right thing when difficult choices have to be made. It can also become an excellent laboratory for putting into practice the maxim of the temple of Delphi: “Know yourself and you will know the Universe and the Gods”. Finally, it can provide the propitious occasion to make this important distinction between uncertainty and insecurity.
