North and Peace

On one side, chaos; on the other, order.

If there’s too much chaos, there are no boundaries, structures fall apart, and there’s no one to act as authority. Chaos is a bad news that comes suddenly, a disapproved ending, a relationship that falls apart seemingly “out of nowhere.”

In an excess of chaos, you can’t make good decisions, or at least not quickly.

If we go to the extreme of order, there are too many boundaries; there’s no flexibility to relate the rules to the context. Order gives structure; it’s the routine that keeps us sane, it’s going out into the street and not facing a purge. It’s the railing we hold onto as we go through life.

Too much order translates into having your life managed by an Excel spreadsheet without allowing for deviations. And we all know deviations will come.

Needless to say, the optimal is a balance between both extremes. You need to have a plan and give your all to fulfill it, while at the same time living life and not taking anything too seriously. We all know the best experiences are the ones that arise out of nowhere, improvised and without expectations.

Now, this text is not about anything we’ve been talking about. It’s about one word.

Uncertainty.

What happens when you try to grab that railing and when you reach out, there’s nothing there? If you’ve ever had the luck of knowing the sea, you surely recognize the feeling of not finding your footing and being surrounded by liters and liters of water moving nonstop while pushing you. That’s what uncertainty feels like.

There are two key moments in a young person’s life where maximum uncertainty is experienced.

When you finish school and have to decide what the hell to do with your life. Basically, study or work. And if you choose to study, what to study?

(If you chose to study) When finally, after so much effort and suffering, you graduate.

In both cases, there’s an excess of chaos. The academic system is no longer there to support you. You’ve done what society, your parents, and whoever else asked of you. You have all that freedom you wanted so much, obviously accompanied by the responsibility that comes with it (the fine print).

You can do WHATEVER YOU WANT! Incredible, right? So many options. Stay? Leave? Bs. As.? The south? Abroad? Travel and come back? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Get married? Save? Spend? Car? Take a stable job or change jobs?

So many options. But which one is the right one? Is there a right one? What the hell do I do?

For me, there’s no right answer. You choose and look forward, without turning your head. Of course, you always do a cost-benefit analysis and all the spreadsheets you want, but in the end, the decision is always subjective and comes from within. You choose and move forward.

Any “what would have happened” or “what if” about things you have no information on is pointless. It’s a waste of time.

Maybe if you hadn’t traveled, you’d have been hit by a bus in the city center. Or maybe if you’d stayed, you’d have landed a great job and met your perfect partner. Who knows, man.

It all comes down to choosing and going for it. If you had made any other decision, you wouldn’t be the person you are today. It’s very easy to talk with hindsight.