Just about everyone I know is desperately searching for normal. The problem is normal is elusive if it exists at all and as far as I can tell it doesn’t. It’s an illusion. A construct designed to help promote an acceptable level of complacency. Comfort with the status quo.
I’ve concluded that the only real normal is now. It will not be the normal of fifteen minutes from now. Perhaps, not even fifteen seconds from now. Chasing normal – longing for it – coveting it – is counterproductive. I see no useful purpose in it and believe it would make more sense to spend that time maximizing your now. Living in the present and accepting it for what it truly is or is not.
Ask anyone who has suffered through chronic illness. They know there is not a lot of utility in thinking about the difference between where they are right now and where they were just a few hours. Perhaps, even a few seconds ago. But I’m willing to bet they would have something to say about how quickly the normal they were content and comfortable with changed and changed all too quickly.
Ask any restaurant owner who just endured the past eighteen months of the pandemic with their restaurant shuttered. Stop the Charge Nurse at any hospital – urban or rural – whose Intensive Care Unit has been overrun with COVID patients and ask them about normal. Then brace yourself.
Ask Me…
Ask someone who was laid off and can’t find a job. Or any small business owner who can’t find qualified help what normal looks like. Ask me and I’ll tell you that normal just plain isn’t!
This isn’t the time for complacency or for getting lost in the past either. Now is the time to prepare and execute for a better tomorrow.
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I went out and started my own business in Mobile Service Advising and consulting as a direct result of embracing the change. Nothing is the same for me in the last 18 months except the love of my sons. Even that might have gotten bigger in 18 months.
I'm not sure change is even relevant beyond our response. There will always be those who are sure the sky is falling and those who see endless possibilities. Sounds like you found opportunity in the rubble. Just remember the present is where you build the future... I'll be sending positive thoughts your way.