Living with Uncertainty during a Pandemic
Human beings like certainty. We live in a generation where, following the click of a button, we can have pretty much whatever we demand. We like to plan ahead: for Christmas or Eid; we plan our next summer holiday or for the ski season; and we plan for the future, paying into pensions and investments to see us into older age.
The Covid 19 pandemic has brought significant shift in our ability to plan. At the time of writing, many UK cities are entering into a second phase of local lockdowns, circuit breaks, or whatever we are calling the need to once again isolate form others. We face periods of time away from our families and friends, Halloween is cancelled for many, it is unlikely we will be able to meet en masse to enjoy the firework displays we have grown accustomed to on November 5th.
And the question in many people’s minds, if not on their lips, is whether we will have a ‘normal’ Christmas this year. Being a time when family and friends gather to celebrate the holidays, Covid has delivered what feels like an insult to this special time of year. The very fact that the holidays are a time to gather with others, is the very thing that Coronavirus prevents.
We do not yet know what the rules around gatherings my be in December 2020. Nor whether life will have returned to ‘normal’ by next summer. So, we have a choice. We can spend time now fretting and worrying over what will happen, or we can choose to focus all of our attention on the here and now. As a concept, the latter appears so simple. However, in reality we are almost predisposed to think and plan ahead. We will get there. And worrying about it now will not help change the outcome of these plans. They will either come to fruition or they will not.
In dedicating our time right now to worrying about the future, we run the very real risk that we will lose all that we have right now. I hope you are safe. I hope you are secure and that you are well. That is just about the only certainty we have right now and it is to be celebrated rather than frittered away on concerns about whether Christmas will be everything we want it to be.
So, my challenge to you is a simple one. Try with all your might to spend moments of today living in the moment, the here and now. I think you’ll find it much more meaningful than worrying about an uncertain future.