Future-proofing uncertainty

What’s the meaning of uncertainty?

What’s the purpose of this pandemic?

What’s the mission we are engaging in living on this planet?

And are we doing good or are we creating chaos?

The biggest issue I sense is climate change and in summary I ask why are we destroying our natural environment?

You only have to look at the scale of housing development so see the problem.

And it is not just the scale but the nature of the housing development – we are designing in future problems in housing not yet built.

Have we been conditioned into a reality that is unethical, immoral, abuses our human rights and is in no way fit for purpose?

Have we been sold a lemon?

Reflecting over the fifty + years on this planet, I am amazed at how the world has changed since I was born in the late sixties. Some of that change has been transformational for good but some has been deeply destructive.

The challenge I wonder is whether people are aware of the impact of their thoughts, their feelings, their behaviours?

I wonder if people are clear on their why? (purpose) their how? (mission) their what? (legacy)

And if they are not clear about their role on this earth – how is that working for them?

My biggest learning to date has been that I had the wrong set of values, the wrong lifepath, the wrong lifestyle.

I sense this relates back to my childhood when I was conditioned to be either a banker, an accountant or a solicitor as in my father’s own words “you never see any of them out of work”. Little did either he or I know that my career would whilst ticking the accountant box, take me around the world.

So yes, I experienced a major mental health crisis at the age of 43 resulting from intense work stress. But I see this as a breakthrough not a breakdown. Psychosis is an intense emotional and psychological experience but ultimately all the reading I have done since has shown me that the source of psychosis is inherited from prior generations in the form of trauma.

So yes bipolar can be considered a major mental illness but it is a disorder?

So many people are grappling with issues of mental health and mental illness across the globe unyet there are also many examples of people who’ve achieved a sense of healing and recovery.

How does this relate to your life and your path forward?

Well I was the first in my family to be diagnosed.

And I had no idea I had this diagnosis for 43 years.

So ultimately my message is about resilience and having clarity around your values and your purpose.

Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning by Viktor E Frankl is a must read for anyone seeking to understand life.

Viktor E Frankl survived a concentration camp experience during World War 2 and went on to become a Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School. So it is possible to progress from a near death experience to a life and career of success and purpose. His story inspired me when I was at my lowest ebb. There are many other memoirs that have inspired me. We are never static but constantly evolving through our head, heart, gut interlinked through our autonomic nervous system. All these internal organs have memories as do our DNA. But all these elements can be changed even our DNA.

Understanding the neuroscience of our inner engineering enlightened me in my path of healing and recovery.

Simple facts like the heart heals.

Simple facts like the gut guides.

Simple facts like all challenges are seeking to align you to your ultimate life path.

That’s my truth.

It may be yours too.