2026 is going to hurt

For many of you reading this (and me too!), the discomfort in our lives has been delightfully trivial in the scheme of things:

We're late for school and the kids are screaming.

I didn't get the promotion.

My workmate is being an arse.

We can't afford an overseas holiday.

These are all real disappointments and frustrations. And yet...

For me - and I'd say many of you too - 2026 will be the year where we have to come to terms with the new reality of our world. With the fact that discomfort of a much larger scale is our new normal.

We're not scared of change

In the book Hardwired Humans, my friend Andrew O'Keeffe explained that we humans aren't afraid of change - in fact, we love it, and we call it progress! - but we are scared of losing what we value.

Right now, you might be feeling that fear more than before.

For your homes (cheers climate change).

For your livelihoods (thanks for nothing AI).

For your cultures (thanks Mr Politician).

The unfortunate reality is we cannot continue to cruise along trusting that somebody else will sort it out.

Especially as some things will get worse before they get better.

So, do we curl up into the foetal position?

Tempting.

Do we bury our heads in the sand?

Less tempting, but still...

Be more human

Funnily enough (for me anyway), it means we're entering a boom period for human-to-human engagement. The real, genuine, honest, awkward, warts-and-all sort that I'm always blabbering on about.

No more can we ignore the big conversations and hope things sort themselves out.

No more can we rely on somebody else to step up.

No more can we bluster our way through with false certainty.

And look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it and say that curiosity and care and compassion will make it fine and dandy and easy.

2026 is going to hurt.

This year is going to punch you in the face and throw you to the floor.

At times, you're going to feel as though you're losing your last bit of power and influence in the world.

You're going to scream in frustration and anger at the hurtful, hateful acts you see and hear about.

You're going to want to give up and quit.

But...

(And this is the critical bit...)

You will get back up.

Your face will heal.

Stress is inevitable - and if we allow it, it can be useful too.

Call me naive or an optimist or a privileged white dude, but I do believe we can emerge stronger and better thanks to the rubbish that the world might throw at us.

Be interested, not attached

Whatever you're feeling right now as you read this - a clenching in your belly, a tightness in your neck, a swirling head - it's okay.

We humans have adapted for millenia. And we will continue to do so.

The only path through that I can see is to be interested in the process, not attached to the outcome.

When we let go of our need to be right, or for things to be a certain way, and we let our fascination at the state of the world shine through, everything gets better.

As Leonard Cohen put it in "Anthem"

Ring them bells that can still ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, a crack in everthing

That's how the light gets in.

That's how the light gets in.

...

So with that pep talk out of the way, I'm curious...

How are you feeling about 2026?

And how ready do you feel for what's coming next?

Email me at paul@paulmcgregor.co.nz. I'd love to hear from you. It doesn't have to be anything profound or coherent!

With love,
Paul