Life is complicated
Scott Miker
Life is complicated. There is a complexity to life that flows through everyone and everything. Despite attempts to simplify, there is still uncertainty and intricacy to everything we experience.
Linear thinking removes all the complexity and looks to link 2 points and drawing meaning from them. It tells us that there is one reason for something and one outcome to be expected by various tactics.
Systems thinking changes this perspective. It allows the complexity to exist and uses simplification to look at patterns. The advantages of this type of thinking present themselves when we need to evaluate complex systems to make decisions.
Even systems thinking reduces the amount of complexity that exists in life. Patterns show us what is normal but not what falls outside the bounds of normal.
In Think Again, author Adam Grant says, “Careers, relationships, and communities are examples of what scientists call open systems – they’re constantly in flux because they’re not closed off from the environments around them. We know that open systems are governed by at least two key principles: there are always multiple paths to the same end (equifinality), and the same starting point can be a path to many different ends (multifinality). We should be careful to avoid getting too attached to a particular route or even a particular destination. There isn’t one definition of success or one track to happiness.”
This quote by Grant presents an interesting viewpoint. With open systems, there is so much complexity that we cannot define success with a singular definition. We cannot outline the one path towards success. We also cannot outline one path towards happiness. These items are in constant flux and different for everyone and in every situation.
Systems thinking can help. We can see patterns, but this isn’t absolute. The path we take might not follow the pattern. It might be different.
On my last article I talk about using improvement to find happiness. When we work towards getting better, we shift away from a focus on pleasure or contentment. But the outcome is a more positive mental state.
When we take this approach to life, we start to see life as an adventure. Instead of the expectation that we will end up exactly where we hope, we allow life to unfold before us with flexibility and openness.
To accept the complicated life we all experience, we should maintain the mindset that life isn’t set, it is variable. This means we must be more of an adventurer. We need to be willing to change and adjust as the journey unfolds.
This will create steps that are less rigid. We will allow things to happen without extreme judgment. We will be able to accept the challenges and obstacles enough to work past them.
By keeping our eye on improvement, we can make sure we make progress through life to better ourselves. We can learn to appreciate the majesty of it all, while not becoming overwhelmed by it. We can work on controlling what we can control and leave everything else to fall in place as it chooses.
Life is complicated. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad thing. That gives us adventure. That gives us a never-ending opportunity to grow. We can improve. We can get better at addressing challenges and appreciating life’s blessings. Through it all, we can realize that we don’t have omnipotent control. Instead, I have control over me as an individual within the system, just as you have control over you as an individual.