Harsh Truths

Elections are finally over here and we know who'll be in charge through the rest of the pandemic and the economic struggles to follow. The leader of the winning party, the incumbent, chose to take a more realistic approach to his victory speech. Instead of celebrating he immediately warned that the next two years would be difficult.

I've seen some mixed reactions to this. Some were looking for hope and promises of a bright future but didn't found any. Some, like me, appreciated an honest assessment. But I can understand the desire for hope in a difficult and unprecedented situation. Everyone wants to know that things will get better soon.

Anyone keeping up with the news can tell that his assessment is right though. Even though you hope it's wrong. Saying anything else would have been a lie or ignorance. But I do wonder just what those tough times will look like. I've been relatively insulated from the impacts of the pandemic so far but many others haven't been. Just how much worse will things get? And what will recovery look like?

Recently I've bought into the idea that this also presents new opportunities. To make radical changes that no one dared try before. We've been dependent on oil and gas for so long this could be the opportunity to truly move in a new direction as we're rebuilding anyway. Viewed in that lens it's a bit exciting.

Maybe that's where some hope in that speech could've come from. But when approaching difficult times do you want unpredictable hopes or harsh truths to prepare yourself?

Maybe a bit of both.