How Our Perception Will Pull Us Through the Corona Crisis
Glass half full or half empty? An old cliche I know but looking at the economic impact Covid 19 will cause is terrifying to say the least and our perception during all of this is very important. Think back to January. It seems like many years ago doesn't it? Did you think when you first heard about the pandemic it was just another flu bug? If you did, you were not alone. As time went on, the perception changed. It was like a huge gut punch. Millions have lost their jobs, people are dying, life is looking like a Walking Dead episode.
People being sheltered are resorting to social media and news media for any news good or bad. Fear sells, no doubt about it. It is perpetuated buy the press. I knew it the moment my young daughter was staged in a dental chair for a local news broadcast as her proud father looked on with approval. Check out this 1982 music video by Don Henley: CLICK HERE How appropriate is that to what we are going through?! False optimism does no one any good. For one of the first times in history we have global decision making. People all over the world are making high stress, life and death decisions every day. Do I leave the house, do I wear a mask, should I go to the doctor. Or, are they really life and death decisions at all?
There are many unknowns with this virus. Perception plays a big part in this. A few weeks ago I was tested for Covid 19. I was tested because I am a first responder and had a family member already in quarantine. I was nervous, but my perception of testing for the virus may have been different then yours. If I turned out positive, I could isolate and hopefully later become immune to the virus. This could lead to producing antibodies that could possibly help someone. I could also be unrestricted and move about freely not being concerned with being exposed again.
Bottom line, reality is an illusion. That's right, everything you are seeing and hearing about our situation is not real. Not convinced? How about good old Albert Einstein for example who said "reality is merely an illusion." What he meant was its our perception of reality which is the illusion, not actually reality. Perception to each person on the planet is as unique as DNA. Reality is truth, we just do not see it that way. There is a gap between our perception of our world and actual reality. It can become dangerous of what we fill that gap with. Take emotions for example. Any decision based on emotion is dangerous. One obvious example that comes to mind is anger. How many decisions have you made while you were angry? Silent anger is still anger.
Our minds are always working making 35000 decisions every day (most are subconscious). During my talks I take advantage of this and focus my presentations on the subconscious. Decisions today are all high stress decisions. Thirty years ago this was not the case. Back then, in order to make good high stress decisions, one would need to train in high stress conditions (Navy seals, police officers etc). Even before Covid 19, we all were training in high stress conditions. Modern technology has not made our life easier to say the least. Our perception is constantly changing and is inconsistent. Reality changes but it is consistent. We have to base our decisions on logic and not our feelings. When I say logic, I do not mean trusting everything we are seeing around us. Once again, our reality is an illusion. Check out the 2009 swine flu national emergency news video:: Click Here and the different perception the public had at that time. It's like night and day compared to 2020. Hindsight by the way is 2020.
Right now 8 out of 10 people are more concerned with family health rather then the economy. This makes perfect sense doesn't it? But what about the other 20 percent? Lets assume the other 20 percent are concerned because they are out of work or laid off. Their perception is totally different. There was no economy 3000 years ago, people were only concerned with their own little world. We do not have a crystal ball, we cannot see into the future, we can only plan for it based on our perception. Top experts are basing their decisions on models. What is really their perception of this situation? You would have to be a mind reader to know. We watch the news but do not know what actually goes on behind closed doors.
Our economy was super strong before all this happened. Now we are basically in a temporary recession. I say temporary because that is my perception. The federal government has already put out one stimulus package and they are working on another. Many think this may lead to hyper inflation and some are even using the D word, depression. Think of it this way. You have an inheritance coming in from a distant relative who passed away. It is a nice sum and being human, you already are planning on how to spend the money. Business owner's perception is similar. They think they will get the money eventually and this can save jobs. They are already filling the gap between perception and reality. When the average middle class employed American sees the restrictions being lifted and money on the way, eventually they will be spending and putting this money back into our economy. Also, taxes will slowly begin to be paid again. Yes, it sounds so simple does it not? We all have taken a tough hit and we have never seen anything like this in our lifetimes. There are plenty of variables of course, ie; China, unemployment, large gatherings etc but as some businesses close, others will be hiring and new jobs will actually be created from this virus. People will be sick of staying inside with restrictions and have longed for social interaction for much too long. There will be some that have a hard time with this since a vaccine is not even guaranteed. We were promised a vaccine for HIV, also a Corona virus and that never happened but the world got better. Is it bad right now? Yes it is, but I always believe there is a reason for everything in this life. Being a spiritual person, I believe there is a plan, way beyond our understanding.
Our focus should be on what we can control, but being human, we want to control anything that causes us harm. We are living in our new reality. There will be a new normal. Nothing will quiet be the same since we will already be use to living in our new reality. We are all in this together, from 6 feet away. The sun will still come up tomorrow (our perception, the sun does not come up), this will not last forever. The economy will not tank like 1933. The recovery will be faster then YOU think. Of course you know this already. After all, you have perception too.
