Active-Passiveness

"In a critical sense, doing nothing can mean doing something. Inaction can be action, and embracing this paradox can save your life."*

Recently I had lunches with a few friends. Though they all survived the recent round of layoffs in their companies, they were not very happy. They felt unsure about the future, tired from the now heavier workload, and helpless to do anything to change their current condition. I tried to think of something to say to encourage them, but couldn't find anything that was not a cliche.

Then I spotted the term "active-passiveness" from the book "The Survivors Club". It's a term used in psychology; scientists found survivors of crises were usually people who waited for the worst to pass (instead of getting panic or fighting it directly). The preserved energy was then used when the situation was not so dire and eventually saved their lives.

Since we are "officially" in crisis now, applying some "survival" psychology may help. In the mean time, spending some time reading "Lao-Tse" or "Chuang-Tse" while biding your time may not be a bad idea. :-)

*This sounds like Lao-Tse, but is actually from the book "The Survivors Club". It contains a chapter which is a good digest of the "luck factor" book (even better than the original).