Case for 'Exuberance' in the times of Uncertainty and Fear

As we see the world rummaging thru the stores scampering for toilet paper its amazing to see how soon the irrational exuberance as late as Jan 2020 has turned to unreasonable fear and collectively, majority of the people become less confident of the future and forget/ignore the resilience and the intelligence of human race.

We Humans aren’t Gods gift to the planet and no different from the virus/es that are attacking us and trying to push us out/away either. But one thing that sets us apart is the refinement in the way we communicate in multitude of languages and the way we have devised languages to talk to machines and vice versa and analyse information/data.

While a billion other species are only struggling to survive and remain fit to procreate, Homo Sapiens have ‘almost’ moved up the value chain as we have been able to push back the concept of natural mortality and nature’s purgatory forces thru dramatic advances in medicine. We can travel faster than our own natural speeds and above all have put another billion species in peril by uncontrolled procreation and taking over the space of others.

Introspection can continue to happen to reflect on our alleged pace of futile progress, the fact also remains that Corona is just a blip in the history of mankind. The planet has been plagued by multitude of vicissitudes over centuries and the fittest have always survived. The Malthusian Theory of Population and food growth is likely to self-correct the populations over long period of time and while we may continue to call this China Virus or whatever, the humanity has brought this upon itself and this is likely to disappear as rapidly as it emerged and created a havoc.

Not only are some of our nations dogmatic and doctrinated – the ones that have taken it upon themselves to cleanse this planet on basis of ethnicity starting from Hitler or Saddam etc but even Homo Sapiens are being cleansed by the planet and its forces – Call it God, Nature or whatever and that’s how time will be reset and excesses in the name of progress will be deflated to maintain the equilibrium of this planet. In economic terms it’s called reversion to mean.

So while everyone around us is calling out this outlier event to be a doomsday, and hypothetically even if it was to wipe out majority of the entire human race, it would still be a blip in the 4 billion years of the planets probable history.

So whats the point….

1. We have very little control on how the planet / mother earth operates and reacts
2. The fittest will survive and thrive
3. Momentary setbacks cannot be allowed to convert temporary pain - permanent
4. The economic sudden stop is brutal but is still temporary
5. The naysayers will be taken by surprise and trapped the moment Mr. Corona disappears – which it will
6. Progress is the only constant – Keep moving, learning and improvising
7. The old processes, traditions and beliefs will become irrelevant – humans and corporations will be required to be more nimble and dextrous.
8. As we see that everything self-corrects, excesses by us humans will stand corrected and everything will revert to mean
9. If adversity strikes and kills you – you are lucky – but if you survive – make sure You definitely emerge a winner on the other side (the meaning of winning will differ for different people)
10. The lockdown is a God-sent opportunity to appreciate silence, chirping of birds, respect the things that you wouldn’t / couldn’t give a damn about
11. Acknowledge that you really need very little for a contended life
12. Be conscious of an apocalypse to make you humble – but be hopeful that that might never happen
13. Treat your employer as your God – remember he is underwriting all risks
14. Step out into Ur balcony and breathe consciously- appreciate that Oxygen available isn’t to be taken for granted
15. Find time to forgive or seek forgiveness – its liberating
16. Opportunities to learn, invest, evolve only show up in adverse times – don’t miss these
17. At the end of each day try and be a shade wiser thru personal experiences or learnings from others – so Read Read and Read even more
18. Be soft on yourself by judging yourself on the measure of your intent, conduct and character and not the car you drive or the 'zeroes' in your bank accounts
19. Treat others as you would like yourself to be treated
20. Believe in “This too shall pass”

And lastly

Remember that all the successes and failures of yesterday concern us no more and all the unknowns of tomorrow concern us not yet. So….

Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’

Because this Corona is temporary but the power of human resilience and resolve is permanent.

twitter @manurishiguptha