The digital world is ever-changing. It isn’t a one-time fix. It’s staying one step ahead.
This is so important that I put it in the header and the description of this website.
We long for things to stay the same, especially the good things that we don’t ever want to end. Because it means we have to deal with change which is hard and uncertain. Technology has enabled life to get better in so many ways. However, the quality of our life isn’t determined by the technology itself, it is determined by how we respond to the perpetual change of it.
What remains the same still changes year after year.
Every year, tree leaves change to beautiful hues of orange, red, yellow and brown only to fall off. The trees remain dormant during winter and slowly come back to life each spring.
The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west but changes like clockwork.
The definition of time has never changed but changes every second.
Morgan Housel’s book, Same as Ever, describes the typical path of how we respond to something that becomes a life-changing new technology.
I’ve never heard of that.
I’ve heard about it, but don’t understand it.
I understand it, but don’t see how it will be useful.
I use it, but just for fun.
It’s becoming more useful to me.
I use it all the time.
I can’t imagine life without it.
People actually lived without this!
It’s too powerful and needs to be regulated.
Notice how the majority of these sentences begin or end. This not only reveals the responsibility of technology but also for change.
Smartphones are one of the greatest life-changing technologies but also one of the worst. It depends what phase in life you are in and how they are used. For young kids it’s the worst, for old kids it’s the best. If my brothers and I didn’t have smartphones and texting, we would be spending hours and days in cars, on planes driving or flying back and forth for very frequent medical appointments that sometimes last 10 minutes but are critical to the path forward. Now, my Mom drives to her local clinic and hospital, calls me on her Lively smartphone, puts me on speakerphone and I take notes, ask questions and verify our understanding. Then I consolidate all the information and text or email it to her iPad on our family chat so she, as well as my brothers, can read it.
But that will eventually change too. Change is inevitable. It is as certain as taxes and death.
We can choose to ignore [technology] or [change] and do nothing. We can also chose to fear it instead of to understand and use it. The past always stays the same but the illusive certainty of it filters out all the paths not taken creating a false sense of security. Because in hindsight, our vision is always 20/20 and we can clearly see what happens without having to deal with the uncertainty.
Living in the past does nothing for our future and keeps us one step behind. Thinking that if I do this one thing it will fix everything else for the future. But change doesn’t stop.
It is the daily response we have to all the uncertainty that surrounds us sometimes great and often times small. Responding to change doesn’t mean we do this alone. The responsibility of change is finding the right balance of people and resources to help us navigate through it.
My brothers and I have private texts and phone calls regarding our own concerns as none of us live close to where we grew up. My husband doesn’t have this because he’s an only child. So, I get reenlisted there.
Just like we have a secret language for our professional life where we can freely engage in that language with our closest colleagues, that can be lost once we leave the working world. But it doesn’t have to be. I learned enough about pharmaceutical manufacturing to engage in conversations with my husband and he is actively learning more about finance and investing so we can make the changes we need to. Even if your spouse has no interest, stay in touch with those close colleagues and find new connections to keep those sacred conversations alive.
And instead of relying on the Nightly News or Facebook/Instagram reels to inform you of everything that is changing, read about it instead. It can be a book (books haven’t changed much over time), a well-documented article or someone else’s point of view. Or you can even take a class.
The featured image was captured via drone. My husband is taking an online class to become commercially certified. It’s essentially a commercial pilot license. He’s learned about atmospheric conditions, the different types of clouds, flight clearance and that none of us own airspace. I don’t usually digitally alter pictures but this one I did to make the houses less identifiable.
Drones are being used and will be used in ways we haven’t even imagined. They are being flown through storms, across crops and infrastructure to assess conditions and damage, safety and rescue, to deliver pesticide, fertilizer, packages and supplies as well as for surveillance and combat. My husband is at the it’s becoming more useful to me stage.
I have found a preference for writing on Sundays because I no longer have the anticipatory anxiety of returning to work on Monday that surprisingly 75% – 80% of people have. If I can make your Sunday nights or Monday mornings better, I will do just that.
The responsibility of change starts with you by how your chose to respond and who you decide to become.
“Embrace the unknown; it is only there you will find your treasure.” -Will Craig
Navigating Life Transitions: Turning Change Into Opportunity | Psychology Today