Top Question: What's Going to Happen Next?

We've All Been There

I had a client address me with tears in her eyes and she said 'Just tell me straight, is this going to get better?'

My response: 'Is what going to get better?'

Her: 'This. Everything. Me. Am I going to make it? Is any of this finally going to get better? Are we all just f*cked?'

(pause)

What We Know So Far

It's the beginning of 2024 and the predictions of 'what's to come' loom everywhere. Most of them are not good. No one seems to think this will be an easy year.

But I'm more curious about something else that's going on. There's a pressure mounting among us. I'm not just talking about the obvious cultural, political, and global tensions. I'm talking about the spiritual, emotional, and psychological struggle growing inside us, the individuals going through this unique time.

There's an overwhelming sense of being in between worlds. The old is passing away and the new is not here yet. Things are changing. We are changing. Those who are aware of what's happening in and around them are very uncomfortable.

This pressure pushes us to ask, what's going to happen next? We want to know how long we have to keep this up. It seems as though a breaking point is near. Those of us watching more closely wonder 'How rough will it be getting there?' so we can prepare. And thus lies the fullness of our discomfort: we don't know the specifics.

We hear predictions all the time. The specifics and timing are always a guessing game, always changing. But the bigger story is not so unknowable. The principles that shape the story are discoverable as well. Our role in the story is something we get to determine. There's more hope than at first glance.

I'm not an expert on what's going to happen next but I do know this:

• We are in a unique time. The rules of the game are changing
• Those who write the stories rule the world. The story we believe about what's happening around us greatly determines what will actually happen next. It's critically important to learn to write the best story possible and to recognize when someone else is writing it for you
• We are the ones we've been waiting for, therefore we are not victims. This time belongs to us; it's our responsibility. We were literally born for such a time as this. We have what we need to create a new reality
• We create new realities by doing our true work. No matter how loud the noise or how big the outer world changes, we have a responsibility to do our true work
• All true work will take you to the inner world. Developing this arena is the best thing you can do to flourish through whatever happens next
• What we want to see in the outer world must first be developed in our inner worlds. The only successful way out is 'in'. How we deal with the 'particular' (our own personal life and soul) is the exact work we need to deal with the universal (global issues)

Does it Get Better?

This moment in time belongs to those who engage the transformation that this amount of pressure brings.

(unpause)

This is what I told my client after she demanded to know if any of this is going to get better:

Yes. It does get better.

It's going to be amazing.

You're not alone. There are others out there going through something very similar, and we're all working together even though we don't realize it.

What happens next?

"Every prediction is first and foremost a meditation on the present" - Jacques Attali

I'm incredibly curious. So I've asked the thinkers, storytellers, and those who dedicate their work to understanding our time three questions:

What's Happening Now?

What Will Happen Next?

And What's Our Role in the Story?

If you're interested in hearing the surprising and mind-stretching answers to these big questions, stay tuned.

Until then, I'll be here, sprinkling your inbox with big thoughts and good vibes.