I’m ashamed to admit I had probably some unproductive days following the start of this pandemic. Usually, I adapt in a day or so, but this time… on the outside massive stability, but on the inside I had some doubts and that left me with a certain amount of indecisiveness on what to do. Still, after recuperating I decided to focus long-term and just be in the moment as much as I can.
At the end of the day, there are two ways to look at any kind of event. One way is to look at it as something that happens TO you or something that happens FOR you. One carries a victim mentality, the other growth mentality.
As the world went into hibernation mode I decided to turn my attention to the relevant books. From Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations which were written during a 15-year long spell of pandemic mayhem, through Lawrence Freedman’s Strategic take on world history, Steven Pinker’s optimistic outlook on reality opposed to Nassim Taleb’s series of books on preparation for such cataclysmic events, to even being reminded of stories of my great-great-grandma being locked down during the Balkan Wars.
Besides the tranquility, presence, and optimism that these books brought to me, I realized that it all comes down to one thing.
All of this is in our nature, meaning it is natural and normal. To be expected. It’s in our DNA, the DNA of all species on this planet.
That’s some wisdom developed during the 15(fifteen!) years of the Antonine Plague. He was a father of at least 13 children and only 4 of them outlived him. And we complain about our lives…
A crisis on the cell level is called autophagy. When we are fasting, the cell gets rid of what isn’t needed and those cells who are old, damaged and inefficient die… as a result after a period of fasting, having gone through autophagy in your cells, you’re coming up healthier and stronger for the longer term. Meaning, your organism is just more efficient and you’ll live a longer and more productive life.
That’s what is going to happen to the world and motorsport in particular. Changes that needed to be done will be done in a speedy fashion. The coronavirus situation is just a fast forward action :) As Nassim Taleb would say, it gives us an opportunity to make ourselves anti-fragile – this is growing in the face of adversity.
Ivan On Racing 