Get On Board

‘All Aboard, All Aboard’. This is something that a ship captain will shout out to their crew as a signal it’s time to move on to their next destination. The air hostesses welcome people on board as they prepare for another take off.

We hear the phrase, ‘get on board’ during speeches that require a change of hearts and minds; it’s also used to encourage prospectors to make decisions on new ideas. The phrase is common when there is a level of uncertainty and clarity about that next step, phase or journey. And when new deals are struck, alliances made and partnerships formed, you hear the jubilatory greetings of, ‘welcome on board’.

In life we constantly face changes and decisions that require us to get on board with regards to what’s next for us, what’s next for people around us and what’s next in the world we live in. We are often reminded that some constants in life include taxes and change but somehow we wish both away. We face internal struggles and turmoil when we refuse to get aboard with the unavoidable changes.

In the past three years, the whole world went from freedom of movement to restricted movement due to a global pandemic, then we moved out of restricted movement but not everyone wanted to go back to complete freedom of movement because it came with office working, long commutes, expensive lunches and global recessions. Many no longer wanted to get on board when their places of work said, ‘all aboard, come back to the office’.

Here are some thought on getting on board

Get on board with unavoidable changes

Change is happening to us and we must get on board with them. I speak to friends and old classmates and we joke about the things we did in our twenties, thirties and forties; many of us know some of those things are no longer realistic in our fifties.

Menopause is now being discussed in the workplaces and no longer the taboo it used to be. This is a change that is unavoidable; women, men and employers must get on board with what that means for them so they can manage the change positively and productively.

We must get on board with the health changes that come with age realising we have to pay more attention to the signs our bodies give us to slow down. I know too many who only slow down when their bodies force a complete shut down which can result in physical, mental, emotional or psychological breakdowns.

Get on board with uncontrollable changes

As parents, many of us would have done the best that we could to raise our children. That doesn’t mean we made the perfect decisions every step of the way as no baby came with a manual, but we do the best that we can by learning from our upbringings, reading parenting books, shared experiences from other parents, and from the practice of parenting older children.

But the world is changing and so are the challenges of parenting in a changing world. We must get on board with those changes to understand how to navigate them and raise our families in the best ways possible. We can’t control the changes happening around us but we can ride the waves.

As children grow up, change happens. There is a stage we get to call all the shots, then a stage when we are in advisory capacity only and at a later stage they end up calling the shots on our behalf. We have to get on board with these changes as they are inevitable.

A lot of conflicts between parents and young adults is because many parents refuse to acknowledge and accept the changing dynamics from ‘parent-child’ to ‘adult-adult’ relationship.  

Get on board with unexpected changes

I was listening to BBC Radio 4 yesterday and they had a rugby player who became paralysed from the neck downwards after an accident. She spoke about learning to do everything all over again, facing the challenges in an unfazed manner, cheering on other female athletes and taking part in gruelling bike rides and other sporting events.

A presenter asked her if she held or felt any resentment or animosity towards others and her response was a resounding ‘No’. She elaborated by saying after the accident she realised she had only two choices to make – live or die?

Having her old life or other people’s lives were not options on the table so it was pointless resenting them. She decided she wanted to live and made the choice to fully embrace what came with that choice. Her rehabilitation was quicker than most and her return to competitive sport also happened albeit to a different sport.

Many cancer survivors speak about getting on board with the unexpected news, making the choice to live and fighting for that life because they realise not getting on board is equivalent to giving up without a fight.

I want to finish by sharing a quote from Charles Darwin which says, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Change is happening to and around us now, even more changes will happen in the future; so get on board and determine your responses to them.

In next week’s post, I will share some thoughts about responding to change. Thanks for reading and sharing my post with others. Have a fantastic week.