Monday Morning Musings
Volume XXIV, Number 29 (Issue 1190 ) July 20, 2026
Inaction – The Ultimate Existential Threat
How often have you heard someone make reference to an existential threat? Perhaps I have become acutely aware of the term’s popularity due to its growing use by the talking heads I routinely listen to. Or, it may be the actual threat level of a life-altering event has grown precipitously. Whatever the cause, the term has succeeded in landing on my list of potential Musings topics. And now that I have a message to go with the term, here goes…
To address any confusion, a quick working definition of an existential threat is a threat that could bring about an extinction event for an entity, civilization, or the world as a whole. Think nuclear war, pandemic, illegal drugs, or a dramatic change in global weather patterns. In the realm of psychology an existential threat is a crisis of identity, faith, or sense of purpose. In the latter context it is thought to be more personal than global in its impact. Yet the prospect of an existential threat at the individual level is no less alarming for the individual involved than it is if the entity being affected is a company, civic organization, community, nation, or civilization.
As I have thought about what might give rise to an extinction event, it strikes me that one of the chief villains is inaction – specifically the sort of inaction that is rooted in one’s fears or complacency. Consider fear-based inaction. Whenever you or I become frozen by our fears, the inability to make a decision, course correct or move forward destines us to a future of diminishing returns. That downhill slide soon enough carries some to the bottom. Once there, an optimist might observe there is no place to go but up whereas the pessimist, locked in the gloom of their personal extinction event, simply resigns themselves to an abysmal fate.
You have encountered both optimists and pessimists in your journey. There is something profoundly impactful, even contagious about both outlooks. Then there are the Eeyores of this world – who, while sounding ever the pessimist, nevertheless manage to persevere and move on. Given my choice, while I prefer being around optimists since their positive nature overrides the fears they might have, I would also embrace an Eeyore or two. That is because they let neither fear nor rose-colored glasses get in the way of their path forward. In the words of Admiral David Farragut during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”
Soli Deo Gloria
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210) 260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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