Planning For the Future When The Future Is Uncertain: A Response to the Coronavirus Crisis

I wanted to address this given what is going on in the world with coronavirus and such. Folks on the news are fond of saying that we live in uncertain times. We have never faced a crisis like this and are dealing with social distancing, work from home, business closings, event postponements and cancellations and no sports. Our grand plans have been disrupted, put on hold or gone up in smoke and folks are left saying Now what? How do we plan for the future when our vision of the future has been taken from us.
 
The problem as I see it is that certainty of the future is an illusion. In fact it always has been. Most people don't act like it is especially tech folks. They tend to think that everything is predictable and you can actually plan for the future. So they live in this nonexistent future and get thrown for a loop when something unexpected happens. The key to planning for the future when the future is uncertain is to not plan for it. If you live in the here and now and be present then the future will take care of itself and when unexpected things happen you will just deal with them instead of wasting time freaking out because they were unexpected. So my advice is just live in the now and be zen just like that Jedi you admire.

"You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow and it can crash. Become water my friend."

Bruce Lee

When an old farmer's stallion wins a prize at a country show, his neighbor calls round to congratulate him, but the old farmer says, Who knows what is good and what is bad?
The next day some thieves come and steal his valuable animal. His neighbor comes to commiserate with him, but the old man replies, Who knows what is good and what is bad?

A few days later the spirited stallion escapes from the thieves and joins a herd of wild mares, leading them back to the farm. The neighbor calls to share the farmer's joy, but the farmer says, Who knows what is good and what is bad?

The following day, while trying to break in one of the mares, the farmer's son is thrown and fractures his leg. The neighbor calls to share the farmer's sorrow, but the old man's attitude remains the same as before.

The following week the army passes by, forcibly conscripting soldiers for the war, but they do not take the farmer's son because he cannot walk. The neighbor thinks to himself, Who knows what is good and what is bad? and realizes that the old farmer must be a Taoist sage.

The Tao Book and Card Pack by Timothy Freke 




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Dr Tim Lynch
Psychsoftpc

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