March 30, 2023

Dominic Gordon, Senior Third Sector Referral Coordinator at Cumbria CVS, looks at how we overcome constant change.

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‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…’

This advice is as relevant today as it was in 1909 when Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem ‘If’ to his twelve-year-old son, John.

“Ahh, great advice Rudyard, but things are different in the present day” I hear you say.

What with our local government soon set to change, our local health system and commissioning body having recently become part of a much wider geographical area, key people constantly on the move, and long nurtured contacts lost requiring yet more investment of time to establish new working relationships, it might seem to be the case. But is it?

I don’t believe so. The reality is that nothing ever stays the same no matter how much we may wish it or perceive that something has remained static. Life itself is an ever-changing complex system and for every generation since the dawn of time some event(s) has occurred that changed the course of their present and future forever. And yet, here we are today! How?

Only by the grace of human resilience, determination, understanding, and working together are we able to overcome the challenges set out in front of us and we will do so again, and again, and again.

So, be compassionate towards yourself when things get a little tough, be compassionate towards others within the ‘system’ – it’s not their fault and are probably just as confused and frustrated as you are, and if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you’re doing alright!