Until the age of 12, my childhood passed in Ukrainian Nikolaev. Each of us has cities where we go to our beloved grandparents, aunts, uncles. The second homeland that you remember with aching nostalgia in your chest. From there, a soft summer, strawberries, greasy and insanely delicious cream and memories of childhood friend Mishka, from whom we stole peaches from a neighboring cottage, and the neighbor pretended not to notice anything. Nikolaev is my second, the homeland of children.
Probably each of you can imagine what has happened to me in the last two months. Political conflicts, like any other conflict – interpersonal, personal, between company owners, between relatives – are a phenomenon that at some point becomes uncontrollable. The laws of the familiar world do not fully operate here. There are no 100% controlled revolutions, military operations, trials: controlled chaos only in books, in life, as a rule, otherwise.
In conditions of uncertainty and utter chaos, including information chaos, however cynical it may sound, it is necessary to develop the main skill – factual thinking. It’s not about acceptance, it’s about the ability to perceive the world as it is, without illusions. It is very, very difficult to learn to tell apart in the framework of an unprincipled information warfare. Comments cause a special emotional intensity. They often have nothing to do with the real picture, but they can affect the lives of real people, despite obvious prejudices.
The illusion affects real life – the paradox of the time we live in right now. And I’m sure everyone will pay the price: both those who created these comments and those who believed in them. And even those who take a neutral position. Chaos makes undeniable changes in our life, so it is important to maintain our usual way of life in new conditions. You have to keep doing what you did before.
What I did yesterday, I must do even better today so that I can help myself and the world. For example, I want to remain a professional coach. I want my employees to be able to feed their children. My life is connected with different parts of our planet where there are people close to me and I continued to communicate with everyone despite differences of opinion. My students in Ukraine decided to continue their education even though they were most affected by the new reality. People want to develop and understand that the only thing no one can take from us is our brain, and that what we can still influence is our thinking.
We live in a world where everything is mixed up. And the last thing that will help us improve is panic and rejection. We are witnessing the suffering of the old world. It should be noted that you can not drown simply by relaxing and accepting the rules of the river flow, but you can safely swim to the other side.
Every day I clearly define my needs, make a task list, check the work of my employees. This is what helps me not consume unnecessary content – very personal comments pouring out from everywhere: from social networks, newspaper pages, from acquaintances and relatives.
Many will say that it is very difficult to work as before: After all, there is aggression, hatred and threats everywhere. Let’s remember the clearest example in our history: Viktor Frankl, “Say Yes to Life!” He wrote his book while in a concentration camp. He died of hunger, endured inhuman conditions of imprisonment, people died of hunger and torture every day before his eyes. It was terrible. And Frankl diligently and persistently wrote his book every day, one page at a time. And this book left a strong impression on me at the beginning of my journey. Well, did that make any sense? It has also affected millions of other people. Frankl survived thanks to his inner world and the freedom it contained.
“Everything can be taken from a man except one thing: A man’s last freedom is to choose his own attitude to any circumstance, to choose his own path,” said Frankl.
The state that comes to us with acceptance is freedom. It is impossible to achieve the new reality without accepting it. There’s no point in fighting the facts. When we find freedom, we find peace.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.
Source: Gazeta
