OK, It’s Bad. So What Are You Going to Do Next?
When graduation season rolls around, we usually think of change, of transition. We think of excitement for what’s coming next layered with some anxiety, worry, trepidation, maybe some fear. The uncomfortable layers nagging at us underneath the excitement are borne out of the unknown, of an uncertain future, of new places, of new people. But it’s a time of optimism and hope, of excitement and a sense of building a future, of moving along that path. And for everyone who is feeling that way about their next step, congratulations! This is wonderful and I am happy for you. It’s as it should be. It’s what we want for the next generation.
But as I watched my oldest walk across the stage after finishing her graduate work, my thoughts turned to how different the world is today. The political and economic climate is chaotic and intense. The rise of new technologies are bringing a fundamental shift to the way we live, a shift so profound and pervasive that it will make the world feel unsteady under our feet. We can look back and see how this played out before. The industrial revolution, the massive change after World War II, the computer age, the internet, they all toppled the old order and ushered in a new one. The rise of AI is doing this again and bringing change to us hard and fast that will have far-reaching impacts, potentially more than any that came before.
As I think about graduations, and the career development work I do with graduates and those changing careers, voluntarily or not, I keep coming back to the same idea: Resilience. These changes can be hard, the world is shifting and the future often doesn’t seem bright. I hear people openly express feelings of a generation losing ground. OK, it’s bad. Or at least you don’t see a path yet that isn’t. So what are you going to do next?
We need to acknowledge those fears and uncertainties, those variables in our lives that don’t seem like they are trending the right way. They are real, and they suck. Don’t push it away, dismiss, minimize, or ignore. Give yourself the space to feel it, to experience the grief and the whole range of feelings, whatever they are for you.
And once you’ve done that, then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, look down the road, and say, OK, what am I going to DO? There is always a path, always a solution. It just might not be the one you wanted, worked toward, or hoped for. But it’s there. Once you feel the feelings and accept the hurt, then you can turn toward the future and say, OK, there’s a path. I just need to find it, I need to make it happen. And with that you now have a mission, a purpose, and hope. Use it.
