“In these uncertain times…” This has been echoing in my brain probably since March 2020….How many times have we all heard this statement now? Almost to the point of rolling our eyes now…? Or is that just me? Either way, it sounded like a good blog title. How does one deal with uncertain times? I know for me, I’ve struggled with being able to deal with these COVID times in a, ahem, mentally healthy way…if I’m being honest. And this year has, well, sucked (to put it mildly). Can I get an Amen? Who is ready to put 2020 behind them? I know I am. However, I also don’t know what’s ahead either. And that’s where the uncertainty comes in.
I keep wondering, when aren’t we, or when haven’t we been, in uncertain times? What generation hasn’t faced some type of struggle, or tribulation? I think every generation has one that shapes them, such as the Great Depression, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, September 11th, COVID-19 (and this comes from a US perspective). Now, I’m not saying they are all exactly the same, but we know people struggled during these times, and things were unknown, perhaps even more then, than now due to the internet, but that is also hard to say.
Yesterday I was sitting in a financial class with my husband, and as the presenter was discussing the S&P 500 Index, it got me to thinking about how uncertainty isn’t actually all that uncertain. For example, the presenter described that yes, there are recessions, but it always bounces back. He was trying to help us understand the market is a long-term investment, and to have patience if we are going to invest. However, I kept seeing that image of the ups and downs from 1928 to today (yes, even through COVID), and he was right, it bounced back from each recession, including the Great Depression, EVERY time. There was NOT one single time it didn’t bounce back. And I couldn’t help but think about how many people are describing what we are experiencing as “uncertain times” and how some people are afraid to put money in the stock market. The image I saw took all the fear out of putting money in the stock market to look at the whole picture. What if we looked at the whole picture of our times? Would it help us to see that things will eventually bounce back? We just aren’t in control of when it will bounce back.
You can see the chart here: https://www.macrotrends.net/2324/sp-500-historical-chart-data
What would it be like to live with that amount of certainty in uncertain times? To know without a doubt that things would eventually be okay, even if they don’t seem okay right now, in the moment. Wow…..seeing that image really helped me picture what peace during COVID might be like. Meaning living with peace during COVID, would be like saying I know it isn’t okay right in this moment, but I know it is going to be okay eventually, even if I don’t know when that moment is going to be.
Talk about giving up certainty…yikes!
This doesn’t just play out globally, it can play out in our society, it can play out in our extended families, it can play out in our family, it can play out with ourselves too. There can be so many places where we don’t know what’s coming next, or where we don’t know how we will make it through. Yet, somehow, humanity has managed to continue through each generation, learning from the last. And each generation continues doing the best it can do with what it knows.
Something else that many people don’t think about is how through the struggle, we learn. We can learn about ourselves, we can learn about life, and we can learn to (dare I say it….?) learn to let go of control of the future. We must be willing to allow ourselves to learn. We must be willing to live in uncertainty. So, while many people talk about “uncertain times” as a bad thing, I see it as a chance to learn how to give up control of my life. (and full disclosure, I am definitely not perfect at this)
The real question is when will you be ready to truly live in uncertainty?
Reference:
Macrotrends. (2020). S&P 500 Index – 90 Year Historical Chart. Retrieved from: https://www.macrotrends.net/2324/sp-500-historical-chart-data