BRIDGE OUT – find another way
Monday, June 15, 2020
There has been too much political correctness and not enough correctness.
We’ve lost confidence in ourselves, because it is so much easier to have answers and solutions handed to us. And it’s always someone else’s job, somewhere else’s problem, and somewhere else’s reality.
As a society, we’ve lost confidence in so many things – while regaining confidence in few others, but we’ve not taken enough responsibility for ourselves. I’m pointing at everyone, including me, who is waiting for things to get better …
We are adrift in a horrible storm, focused too much on predicting better weather rather than dealing with the storm and making our way every day. We are absorbing several simultaneous sea-change events, learning that a Black Swan event is no longer theoretical, we are living in it, and unless you are booked for a Mars trip, we cannot get out of this alive.
What matters, and who matters, matters.
To find what matters, we need to look inside, not outside.
To know how we feel, we need to take our own temperature, which has nothing to do with which way the wind is blowing.
Anything you can hold in your hand is real, and most things people talk about on the news are dodgy in terms of relevance or accuracy, and even when they are – completeness and balance are often sadly absent. We need to question who we trust, and what information/media we believe.
That starts with trusting our experience and our instincts.
We might make imperfect choices, but we’ll own them and we’ll save the angst or blaming or crediting others. Life is my job, and your job – not someone in an ivory tower of stupidity somewhere.
Yes, we’ve lost jobs, businesses, savings, trips, seasons, and valuable time – but, since we have no time to waste, we’ll surely need our confidence, our backbone, and every tool in our bag to get wherever we are going. I’m not saying we should all radically adjust our sites regarding goals, but that we should get back on the track, on the trail, resume the road, to where we are going. If a storm washes out a bridge we don’t stand there waiting for a bridge to reappear, we retreat and find another route.
If life derails us, whose job is it to put us back on the rails? I don’t think that’s government’s job (and they have no stellar success record), of the job of anyone else. While it is helpful to have the moral support of friends and family, should we expect them to provide our boots, our bootstraps, and do the pulling up for us?
C’mon, let’s get started, get our confidence back, re-install our backbone, prepare for a tough journey.
Pack a lunch, this is not a short hike.
P.S. – I’ve been following news coverage on whether Calgary should build a new $5.5 billion public transit project; public opinion and city council are deeply divided about whether to build this essential infrastructure now. Will it cost less in the future? No. Will it be necessary in the future? Yes. Will it provide jobs/wages, supply-chain business, enterprise and community confidence to go ahead? Yes. If they don’t go ahead, will they kick themselves later? Yes. I’m not opposed to clearer thought, working to make a good idea better, but to not go forward building the bridges you need will not get you to the other side [yes, metaphoric meandering, but dammit, I’m right]
Reader feedback:
Just read today's Musings! It feels like an old friend is back in my life - but with a new edge. Loved the column. Thank you for re-connecting! , CB, Calgary, AB
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