in the continuing inquiry into our VUCA world, we come to the 'u' of uncertainty.
we are increasingly unable to predict the future. well…we really never could do that. now, though, it has become impossible to pretend that we can.we are bombarded with many dire predictions about our health, the health of our Mother Earth, the economy and life itself. these are, of course, predictions. like the weather forecasts, any bit of the predictions may or may not happen, leaving us uncertain about everything, not simply the choice to take an umbrella as we go outdoors or not.
elders have experienced this aspect of VUCA many times, simply by living long enough. we know, deep down, that life is uncertain and unpredictable. we know, in our bones, that any part of our lives may change at any time, without advance warning. our current world situation brings this realisation to the foreground. it used to reside, unheeded and unseen, in the background.how can we meet this uncertainty? now, as elders, we know we have an understanding, a profound, basic understanding, of this uncertainty. this is our call to express our wisdom, the wisdom harvested from past experience.
uncertainty in the past has lead us to know what we did well, what came as a surprise then, and what path we took at the time. we learned, often times from painful experience, what brought joy and which choice brought heartache.we’ve learned to look at risks and make decisions about which we might be willing to take and which we would refuse. in the coronavirus world the risk is invisible and potentially deadly. and yet, we must assess the risks to our wellbeing on every level with each choice we make…physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. this process calls upon our wisdom.a skill we may have learned in our decades of life is the ability to listen. as we listen to that still, small voice inside, or to the sage advice of others (both younger and older), we have gained the wisdom that enables us to meet uncertainty with wise understanding.
it is this understanding that enables our growth in elderhood.