The Shape of Things to come

If you’d ask me what’s the single greatest challenge that we as individuals face in our lives today, I’d say: change. I believe that we are all susceptible to the uncertainty that permeates the world around us today. As a species, we have reached a stage where the pace of change is simply phenomenal. The only thing certain about the future is that it will be different. Don’t expect a status quo because you won’t find it. What is the norm today will be archaic tomorrow and what today are matters of science fiction will be part of our daily lives. Well, that’s what has been happening over the last century. We somehow seem to catch up with our imagination and create for ourselves a new and different world every day.

So if things are changing, it’s probably a given that you must change too. Now that’s difficult. It doesn’t take much to proclaim to the world that you are open to change, that you are flexible as an individual and are prepared for whatever the future has in store. In fact, there are countless such examples of individuals and organizations that do just that. The truth, however, is that we are always less prepared for change than we may have ourselves believe.

We all resist change. We hate uncertainty. That’s built into our systems. Some individuals fight this inner urge to resist change and succeed. Others wonder what hit them and why they weren’t prepared. Which category you fall into is entirely a matter of choice.

In the times to come, I believe we will witness change like no other generation before us has. We are at a historical inflection point of sorts; generations to follow may well see us as the people who stood in the eye of the storm. The world around us is rapidly changing in every realm: we may be at the cusp of an energy crisis that may trigger another war. We may have already strained our planet too much; our resources may just not be able to support the burgeoning billions of us. I’m not predicting doomsday. This may never happen. Again, if we prevent this from happening it will only mean that we would have effectively dealt with change.

We live in uncertain, albeit interesting times.