There is no normal. Everyday is a crisis

There is no secret formula to mastering change but we can start by accepting that change is always constant. Last week I was in Ninjutsu class and sensei said something very interesting that got me thinking:

Humans have been in crisis everyday since we created fire. 

He was referring to the fact that ninjas were trained to adapt and survive, but there’s something much deeper we can learn from this.

Ninjutsu was born in a time of turmoil in Japan and by it’s nature is fluid and non-linear, it was created on the assumption that war is unpredictable and so you must adapt to changing conditions intuitively.

As a society we are faced with tremendous challenges right now because as humans we fall into the mindset that some events are preceded by other events, this is flawed.

Instead of thinking of the world where the present is determined by the past, we must adopt the mindset that change is continuous and unending. Ninjutsu is an art of war and in war there isn’t a normal state, you have to be constantly adapting and changing to circumstances which are out of your control. It is less and art of prediction and more of anticipation where you become part of your surroundings as much as your opponent.

You reinvent yourself by adapting to what’s happening around you and gain power by being able to constantly shift and adjust. By being fast and non-linear we stay ahead of our opponents and adapt to opportunity because standing still means death.

So what we should do is not wait for the storm to pass but act and behave as if the storm is always here.