Let’s be honest, 2017 may be a difficult year for many, and I imagine that all of us will be impacted by dealing with uncertainty. Whether you are pro-Trump or against him, the polarizing impacts of the election and fallout afterwards has led to a great level of uncertainty across the board. Will philanthropic donations increase or decrease? Will federal funding be significantly slashed, and if so, what programs? How will the policies and issues that I care about most deeply be impacted? Where do my elected officials stand on these issues?
As we all know, dealing with uncertainty leads to stress, and stress can lead to panic and/or fear. How do we embrace this change so that we can move with the tide instead of against it? While I cannot predict the future, I am going to share some tips that I have shared with my own children:
- What about your friends? I am sure you have other organizational or business partners who are dealing with similar issues. Perhaps you can hold a forum, workshop or discussion group to share ideas and come up with common solutions or share information about upcoming events. Increase your circle of friends so you include as many people as possible.
- Learn from others. It is easy for us to learn from others who have the same ideas regarding the causes and issues that we care most about, but what about those who don’t? While it is easy to stay closed off in our own inner circles, let’s broaden our ability to engage in civil discourse. While our approaches may be different, I guarantee that we can find more similarities than what may appear at the onset.
- Think positive. We don’t know for sure what will happen, so let’s try not to think about “what if” scenarios without having more information.
- Keep reading. There are wonderful newspapers, magazines and resources out there that can provide unbiased, investigative journalism. Check the news sources from articles posted on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter so that you can be sure it comes from a refutable source.
- Stay local. While people may be focused on what happens at the federal level, we should also be engaged at the local level as this is what happens in our communities. There are forums and town hall meetings that you might want to attend to get more information.
Change is not easy, and neither is uncertainty. The more we can remain true to ourselves, our values, while also embracing others’ perspectives, the more we can be prepared for what lies ahead.
