Are We There Yet?

Remember that “road trip” feeling when you were a kid? The agony of not knowing how much longer it was going to take to get to your destination. My brothers and I would oscillate between singing, fighting and making up games. Part of the struggle came from not being the one in control. My mom of course knew where we were going and how long it would take to get there - also keeping track of where and when to stop for food and washroom breaks. So other than having to break up an occasional fight she was calm and relaxed while she drove. In a way that’s kind of how right now feels - moving in a forward motion, trying to make the most of it, unsure of when we are going to get to our destination singing, fighting, making up games and watching TikTok videos to pass the time.

Depending on where you live, we are entering week 6 of social distancing. My best guess is that we are about halfway there (hopefully not longer!). And I’m not basing this on any specific information, it’s a guess. And it’s the longest at-home road trip any of us have been on. And it’s getting exhausting.

I’m still making my way through Ray Dalio’s book Principles and came across the following exert that applies well to today:

Knowing how to deal well with your setbacks is as important as knowing how to move forward. Sometimes you know that you are going over a waterfall and there is no way to avoid it. Life will throw you such challenges, some of which will seem devastating at the time. In bad times, your goal might be to keep what you have, to minimize your rate of loss, or simply deal with a loss that is irrevocable. Your mission is to always make the best possible choices, knowing that you will be rewarded if you do.

The whole planet is going through a major setback, together. And for me that makes it all a little more tolerable. We truly are all in this together. We saw the waterfall coming and down we went. Now that we are at the bottom of the falls all that lies ahead are choices on how to keep going. And as I said last week we just have to keep moving forward. All we can do is make the best choices with the information we have. We aren’t at the end of this road trip just yet. There’s gonna be more singing, fighting, making up games and TikTok – so much TikTok! But eventually this will pass and seem like a distance memory.

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