Reflections from 2020; the importance of flexibility

Due to personal events in my life, it has been clear to me for a while now that plans don’t always work out. That life scripts rarely go the way you intend. That something can come along and flip everything on its head. This year has highlighted that on a global scale. To me, this doesn’t mean that we have to abandon having goals or that we can’t imagine a particular future. It does however mean that flexibility is important. That if we are able to, we need to take changes in our stride. We need to think on our toes and be able to change quickly. This is particularly important in a work context. I learnt this year to make decisions quickly (yet still well thought through), to capitalize on changes, to know what is important and what can be left to a later date, to support students through chaos. I believe I am a better academic after this year, after being thrown into the deep end, when I was already exhausted. Life will continue to surprise us, and as the only thing we can really control is our reactions to the surprises, flexibility will continue to be important.