Adjusting to a new normal

A lesson on impermanence and letting go

As Singapore and many other countries prepare to lift stringent COVID-19 restrictions; the media has been flooded with articles on how we need to “adjust to a new normal”. Businesses will have to embrace new ways of operating and individuals need to reconsider perhaps new careers, lifestyles and how we interact with others. 

Change is always uncomfortable - us humans are creatures of habit; we seek structure, certainty and security. When  those things are taken away from us, we feel destabilised, leading to anxiety, distress and even resentment towards the people and situations that have changed our lives without our permission. 

We have forgotten that nothing in life is ever permanent; no matter how we fight to keep things certain and how aggressively we resist change. If we look closely we will notice that our life is actually a series of transitions from one season to the next, one episode to another.  Yet we cling to past memories, habits and behaviours and are constantly taken aback when things change.

In a world of “mitigating risks” and “back up plans”; we have lulled ourselves into thinking that we have outsmarted life and that we can control changes to a degree that we are shocked when something slips pass or “blindsides” our carefully crafted plans.

COVID-19 has caused us to relook all our existing mental and physical structures and systems. Whatever that has worked for that season of “pre-COVID-19” may no longer serves us now. The new “post COVID-19” era calls on us to let go of not just physical but also mental rigidity and embrace flexibility in order to grow and harness opportunities in the new world.

Some people may consider these turbulent times; but in reality life has never promised us stability, and the age old cliche that “the only constant is change”; is the only truth we can rely on now as certain.