The Churning of the Milk Ocean: Syria / San Bernadino

Churning of the Milk Ocean 2On a day when British MPs decide to launch airstrikes in Syria, and America experiences not one but two mass shootings in one day it can seem as if the whole world is churning.

But Hindu legend tells of the Churning of the Milk Ocean. For 1000 years the gods and demons churned up the sea, until one day they forced it to give up its contents. First came a poison that nearly destroyed the universe. But then came the goddess of wealth and fortune, the cow of plenty, valuable jewels, the nectar of immortality and other treasures.

The world may be churning but we can still choose how we respond. What other people do doesn’t change who we are or what matters to us. It simply makes it clearer.

One response might be to throw up our hands and wish that we were living in simpler times, perhaps 50 years ago when the Vietnam War was half way through its 20 year span. Or 100 years ago when the British used poison gas in trench warfare for the first time. Or 200 years ago when the Battle of Waterloo was changing the course of European history.

The world is churning and we have a choice. We can either throw up our hands in despair, or use that churning to give us renewed energy and enthusiasm to build what we want instead.


Inner leadership provides tools that enable us to centre and ground ourselves in the midst of any churning, then make clear sense of the situation.

It shows how to identify the 10 types of opportunity that exist in any circumstances, then choose the way forward that is best for us.

It shows how to turn our choice into an inspiring vision, then move forward in a way that makes us and our organisations ‘antifragile’: not only able to survive in times of change but thrive because of them.


Photo: Sally Birch

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