Everyone knows history repeats itself. 724 pages of The Timetables of History reveal that. And as Dave Mason sang in the 70s, “There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy, there’s only you and me and we just disagree.” But are we interpreting present history this way?
We are participating in a fascinating chapter of America right now. No doubt about it. In theory, the political and social forest fires are paving way for a rejuvenated and healthy forest. Problem is, half the world trusts the firestarter and the other half does not. I can tell you this, if you are in this chapter, you are by de facto, participating.
Imagine this is a school. How do you know what class you are in and what you are here to learn? Well, only you know that, but the way you navigate through this is by the truth of your own moral compass. Examine your personal beliefs, your ethics and what your inner guidance tells you. It is imperative that you do not let anyone speak for you right now. Your voice is as valuable as any other. Make it heard. Speak up. But speak guided by your own ethics and your own truths, not what you read or hear a blogger or influencer purporting.
When history has repeated itself in similar ways, it has been accompanied by fear. And fear is the one thing that prevents an individual from learning their own personal lessons. Fear is paralyzing, fear creates mobs, fear allows us to be manipulated and used. We find ourselves doing and being ways that are antithetical to our own ethics when we are propelled by fear.
As a leader, your task is to minimize fear to the best of your ability. Encourage and model speaking your truth, following your own moral compass. A tide feels like it is sweeping us out to sea, together and panicking. As with a rip tide, you cannot swim against it, but you can swim along the shore, staying true to your sight of land, what grounds you, until you find your way back.
Change is an inevitable part of Nature, of which we are a part. As inevitable as it is, most humans fear change. Just like death, another inevitable, yet we are ingesting huge gulps of change right now and how we deal with it is how we navigate our own personal (and group) lessons. Do and BE what you are called to do and be.
“There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” ― George Orwell, 1984