Uncertain Times Can Lead to Certainty
Times are hard. Traumatic even. The world is completely different from the one we knew, even a month ago. And things are continuing to change and at a very rapid pace. Everything can seem to be falling apart.
These feelings have occurred many times throughout my life, as well as in the lives of others. While the circumstances are unique, the emotions are not new.
Everything I thought to be consistent, sure and trustworthy was all taken away. I knew nothing about life and felt like I had simply hit rock bottom.
I was scared.
I was angry.
I was hurt.
For me, this was in 2010. At least the first time was. Then it was in 2012. And again in 2015. And those were just the big ones.
Life is always going to be scary, and stupid, and cruel.
But these low times are what carried me to the times where I was so full of joy and love and excitement I could burst!
Each period of uncertainty and trauma, or fear and pain, stripped away the life I had built for myself.
Wanna know the ONE thing that has been consistent through all of these?
Me.
You Are Powerful
You may not realize it, but you hold incredible power over your own life. It doesn’t feel like it, especially right now.
But I promise you do.
Because you make choices. You have made choices that have led you to this point. While you may not always choose the circumstances — let’s be honest, who would have chosen a random virus to spread like wildfire, leaving destruction in its wake? — but you do make choices.
You choose the type job you have, the field you work in or study, you choose the people you associate with, you choose what to focus your attention on, and you are the only one who determines how you spend your time.
And these are just a few of the things you have complete control over.
Despite ANY circumstances — you still have complete control over these things, even in quarantine.
Take Control
Right now, you have complete control over one thing, and that is your own self.
Sometimes we give that power away to others and claim we don’t have any. But you are always capable of taking that back. You simply have to be the one to make a decision.
I recently attended an all-day training with a hero, mentor, and friend, who taught me a valuable history lesson about Julius Caesar.
I know who he is, but what I didn’t know was how he became who he was.
He started out as a soldier in the Roman army and rose through the ranks to become a general and a brilliant strategist.
He became incredibly powerful. And dangerous. At least he was considered so by the leaders of the day. The people loved him and the Senate grew jealous. They decided to arrest him.
Most people here would say he had no choice. Of course, he would run, right? Who wants to be arrested?
Not Julius Caesar. However, he made a very different choice. He marched his army to a river named Rubicon. Ancient Rome had a law stating no general and his army could cross the Rubicon. Not because it wasn’t possible, it’s quite easy to walk through. It was more because doing so was the equivalent of declaring yourself a ruler and becoming an enemy to the state. This was punishable by death.
Historians say he stood at the banks of the Rubicon for four hours. He didn’t have to cross. Doing so was a huge risk. He would basically be declaring civil war. This is an all or nothing decision.
He then uttered a phrase that has completely altered me and how I make choices over the past month since I first heard the words.
He said, “Alea Iacta Est,” meaning “the die is cast.”
Then he crossed the Rubicon, declaring himself King. It was a long and bloody time, but he did it and became the ruler of the Roman empire.
Alea Iacta Est
Caesar didn’t become Caesar by chance. He made choices that he followed through with.
This phrase doesn’t refer to circumstances beyond his control, they referred to his choices. He chose to cross the river and become the emporer, and he would deal with the consequences as they came.
And they started small. He first made choices that would allow him to become successful in this endeavor.
It took a lot of hard work.
It took a lot of choices day by day. Choices like how he would spend his time. He had to study to become the strategist that allowed him to become general, allowing him the option to cross the Rubicon.
Make Your Choice
The thing about hard times is that they do eventually come to an end. As influencer Richie Norton says, “It’s a tunnel, not a cave.”
At the end of the tunnel, who do you want to be?
To become this person, what steps do you need to take? how do you need to spend your time? What tools and resources do you need?
Due to the circumstances of the quarantine, things that used to seem unreachable are made accessible. Online courses have dropped significantly in price, sales are popping up for books, and some of these are not just on sale, but being offered completely free!
Now is the time to invest in yourself and the future you want to create. make your choice. Follow through, put in the work, and the time will fly by more quickly than simply sitting and worrying or mindlessly scrolling social media.
Make your choice. Then follow through. Alea Iacta Est.
So now what?
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