Yesterday marked the start of a new Lunar year, 4721, also called Chinese New Year. Unlike the celebration for the solar or Gregorian calendar on January 1st, the Lunar New Year doesn’t feature the guilt and obligations of new year’s resolutions. Perhaps you’re relieved by that or reminded of what you pledged a few weeks ago. Instead, I’ll offer some ancient Chinese wisdom from the philosopher Lao Tzu. He is credited with saying, “A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind.”
Lao Tzu’s quote can be applied to the new and next normal. After three years, the coronavirus pandemic has created an unpredictable global environment, with many changes that we must adapt to survive and thrive. However, despite the danger it brings, this crisis also presents a unique opportunity for us to take a step back, reassess our priorities, and reevaluate how we use our resources to build a better future.
The pandemic has encouraged us to adopt innovative strategies for problem-solving and creative approaches to living. It has highlighted the importance of collaboration and teamwork in achieving progress. Through this crisis, individuals, organizations, and nations have realized their resilience and ability to come together during times of difficulty. This is the power of the new and next normal—to use crises as a way to drive forward and create positive change.
This idea can be seen in action through small acts of kindness and big goals to create lasting solutions for global issues such as climate change, poverty, inequality, and pandemics. By working together, we can not only survive this crisis but also come out of it with better knowledge and wisdom that can help shape our future. Lao Tzu’s quote reminds us that even during times of difficulty and danger, there is still an opportunity to be found. With determination and resilience, we can ride any dangerous wind into a brighter future.