It has been a crazy first quarter of 2026. Between the US abduction of Venezuelan’s president and threatening to invade Greenland, the Saudi – UAE falling out, Israeli continued ceasefire violations, and Mark Carney’s Davos address, and now the US and Israel attacking Iran, the world seem to be very much in chaos. For most of us, we are left feeling relatively helpless and not knowing which way to go.
So, I am taking advice from my own framework of the four key principles:
- silence/stillness
- observe
- reflect
- act
and put my observation skills into practice. I truly believe our animal brethren have much to teach us in these chaotic times. The one animal I have been able to observe really closely is my cat.
Observing Pippin
I always love to watch my cat, Pippin, when we go out for walks. My neighbour calls our walks paw patrol. Below is a video of the paw patrol cat in action.
The norm is that I would walk ahead and he would follow. He does not hurry though, instead stays rather alert. He scans his surroundings to ensure it is safe before he runs/walk after me. If something catches his interest, he will meander over to investigate. But when he is unsure, he will stop and take stock as can be observed in the above video. Often, I have to wait patiently (he really teaches me to be more patient) while he makes up his mind whether to move or stay still. However, I can tell that he is ready to spring into action the moment danger materialise.
I notice similar behaviour from wildlife like foxes, birds, and squirrels. When they notice me, they would not automatically flee but wait and watch what I would do. If I get too close for comfort, they will flee. But if I stay at a distance and be non-threatening, they relax and go about their business. But there is always a part of them that is alert.
Of course, like most cats, he prefers being high up whenever possible. Not all cats are tree climbers but Pippin is. In the clip below, he tests out the tree branches as to which ones can take his weight. Once decided, he jumps over obstacles, having gauged beforehand where to land. There is a level of preparedness in surmounting his challenges.
Similarly, the tenacity of squirrels trying to “steal” the peanuts I put out for the birds really draws me. They are so ingenuous in solving the problem of opening the bird feeder. And they don’t give up until they solve it. No matter how I make it harder for them, they will come back.
Lessons
So what did I learn from our animal brethren from my observations? A few things:
- don’t be hasty and assess/evaluate the situation
- be prepared for action; either to evade/escape or to take advantage of an opportunity
- that means having done our due diligence in getting ourselves prepared
- when faced with challenges, think outside the box and then stay the course
I definitely think, in these chaotic and uncertain times, we should assess the situation not only globally but locally. Assess where the threats are coming from and where the opportunities are for us to act. As the current world order collapse, I believe that opportunities are there for us to build new coalitions and work from the ground up to solve some of the existential issues today. This is where we need to think of novel approaches to some of these issues.
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