In Brief: Essential Insights for Post-Military Transition
10 Apr 2023 · 5 min
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In this solo episode of the In Brief podcast, host Jordana Megonigal, CEO of the Recon Network, explores how to find peace amid personal chaos. She opens with Nelson Mandela’s 27‑year imprisonment, highlighting how he cultivated a garden to create order and maintain inner peace despite harsh conditions. Jordana then reframes chaos not as inherently negative but as the inverse of order— a neutral state of unpredictability that can foster creativity. She argues that establishing personal order reduces chaos and opens space for peace, using Mandela’s garden as a concrete illustration. The episode offers a three‑step challenge for listeners: (1) take a break and observe natural order around you, (2) practice mindfulness to stay present, and (3) connect with supportive people to process feelings. Jordana emphasizes that everyday chaos is modest compared to Mandela’s ordeal, encouraging listeners to view their own confusion as an opportunity to create order and rest in peace.
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This is In Brief. Let's get to it. Hello there. Good afternoon or morning or evening. Welcome back to the In Brief podcast. Each week on this podcast, we take a few minutes to dive into a topic that hopefully makes your transition a little bit easier and at the very least gives you a new perspective to take into a new week. I'm Jordana. I'm the CEO of the Recon Network, And this week we are talking about finding peace in chaos. In 1962, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned as a political prisoner in South Africa for opposing the country's apartheid system. He remained imprisoned until 1990, when a new president ordered his release. While in prison, however, he dealt with constant stress, hard labor, harsh conditions, and meager rations. He was denied most contact with family and friends, and he even contracted tuberculosis from the damp island on which he was held. For most of us, spending almost 3 decades under such conditions would be enough to break us, or at the very least, make us really bitter. But Mandela was able to rise above his situation, finding peace during that long imprisonment. Then, when he was released at the age of 71, he was able to step into the role of leader and activist once again. Seemingly without missing a beat. But how was Mandela able to stay strong in the face of chaos and oppression? Many would say it's because he was able to find peace even in the middle of all the chaos. But for those of us struggling with big life changes or decisions, we often feel like we're in the thick of the chaos, and sometimes it feels impossible to get out of it. So how did he do it? Before we talk about that, let's just get on the same page as to what chaos actually is. While it's often seen as a negative reaction or situation, the reality is that chaos is simply the inverse of order. Chaos has been described as a state of order confusion. It's often characterized by unpredictability or randomness. It's not bad, it's not good, it just is. And if we can release the idea that chaos is inherently bad, we can also see that it's a necessary part of life. It allows for creativity to grow and for innovation to take root. Both chaos and order are critical parts of living on this earth. That means one of the simplest ways to reduce chaos is to create order, and with that order, we often find peace. For Mandela, he spent many of his prison days in a small plot of land on the island, tending to vegetables in a garden he built. Later on in his autobiography, he wrote that he saw the garden as a place of freedom and opportunity, an interesting choice of words considering his reality at the time. But he knew, he knew that he could create order, that the rules of nature still applied, and that if he tended and nurtured a garden, things would grow. He applied order to that part of his life, and in doing so both reduced the overwhelming sense of chaos And was able to find peace. You and I can do the same. When life is chaotic, we can feel anxious and overstimulated. There's a very distinct feeling that each of us get from things being out of order. And even as I'm saying this, I bet that you know what that feels like to you. The trick is finding out how to create order among the chaos you're going through and then find peace within it. So your challenge this week is to seek peace. Here are a few ideas on how to start. First, take a break. Sometimes the best thing you can do is step away from your chaos and open your eyes to the order in the world around you. Go for a walk and notice how the flowers know when to bloom, or watch squirrels going about their day harvesting. There's order all around you if you notice it. Secondly, practice mindfulness. Being still can help you focus on the present moment and reduce feelings of anxiety and stress. And finally, connect with others. Often when we're feeling overwhelmed, it can be helpful to talk to someone about what we're going through. Reach out to a friend, family member, or therapist who can provide support and help you process your feelings and start sorting through and creating a mental order of sorts. Remember, very little of what we're going through today is near as hard as what someone like Mandela went through for 27 years. And I'd be willing to bet that the chaos surrounding you today isn't even the worst that you've been through in your life either. So see today's chaos for what it is— confusion and distraction— and take some time to find your own order within it. When you do, you'll be that much closer to finding peace that you can rest in for a bit.
