It will be OK.When I say that, I don't mean to diminish the real problems. In fact, 23-year-old me is scoffing right now and thinking, "you shouldn't say that if you can't make sure it's true."But somewhere along the line, I cottoned on to the fact that the words have an effect independent of their meaning. And that effect is important. Because if we don't believe it can be OK, we're less likely to do the things that we need to do make it OK.So sorry, 23-year-old Tom. But we need to say it's going to be OK. It's a matter of survival.I think this really cemented for me during my first responder training. We trained on a lot of things but one of them is what to do if you get lost and have to survive on your own without proper food and water. The first lesson was a positive mental attitude. You have to believe you will survive. This is not the "positive thinking" some of you may dismiss as unrealistic. No, I'm talking about barebones believe you can make it out alive and you have a better chance of doing so, no matter how else you feel. This is practical advice. And most of us aren't in an immediate life-or-death survival situation. Which makes it much easier to prevail. Because humanity has been in worse situations and got out of them. We can do this, humans. It's going to be OK.Pass it on. Tom
It's Going to Be OK - Issue #54
It's Going to Be OK - Issue #54
It's Going to Be OK - Issue #54
It will be OK.When I say that, I don't mean to diminish the real problems. In fact, 23-year-old me is scoffing right now and thinking, "you shouldn't say that if you can't make sure it's true."But somewhere along the line, I cottoned on to the fact that the words have an effect independent of their meaning. And that effect is important. Because if we don't believe it can be OK, we're less likely to do the things that we need to do make it OK.So sorry, 23-year-old Tom. But we need to say it's going to be OK. It's a matter of survival.I think this really cemented for me during my first responder training. We trained on a lot of things but one of them is what to do if you get lost and have to survive on your own without proper food and water. The first lesson was a positive mental attitude. You have to believe you will survive. This is not the "positive thinking" some of you may dismiss as unrealistic. No, I'm talking about barebones believe you can make it out alive and you have a better chance of doing so, no matter how else you feel. This is practical advice. And most of us aren't in an immediate life-or-death survival situation. Which makes it much easier to prevail. Because humanity has been in worse situations and got out of them. We can do this, humans. It's going to be OK.Pass it on. Tom