LIFE IS CHANGE

“The only thing constant in this world is Change”

This quotation, taken from the lyrics of a very popular ballad by India Arie the successful R and B American singer, entitled “Growth,” confirms to my mind, one of the fundamental truths in life.

Although it may sound confusing and paradoxical, Change actually defines life. For no Life can exist without the occurrence of change and in its absence, there clearly will be no life. It is Nature’s most constant and most fundamental component, and is the foundation on which every other action is based. Its existence ensures the continuity of life in every living being on earth, plant or animal, and in many ways, it is the yardstick by which all life is actually measured.

We see change occurring as an essential element in all the natural phenomena in life. It is present in the basic Environmental Cycles in nature such as night and day, sunshine and rain, cold and warm, or in the Seasonal Variations occurring at the regular intervals that include spring, summer, autumn, and winter. It appears at every point in all aspects of the Cycles of Life, beginning at the very moment of inception and continuing without interruption to the end, when life ceases. Life is never constant and unchanging, and by definition, life can only exist in a changing environment. When change has ceased, then life is no more!

In any relationship, change is the glue that cements the relationship and ensures continuation. It is the most essential driving force in every aspect of human encounters. In every one of these events, change serves to initiate, maintain and strengthen personal relationships, and provides the reason for continuing. In our daily interactions our lives are sustained by the alternating periods of highs and lows that we experience. Without these, we will quickly stagnate and wither away. The healthiest and strongest relationships are invariably built on a foundation of constant, but sometimes quite unpredictable, change.

Although change is constantly occurring, its impact on each one of us is never identical but is determined by the attitude we bring to bear. Many of us are content to passively submit to its influence, and like a floating leaf, be carried along life’s journey as so much flotsam, ending in oblivion. But there are many who are not willing to accept   life’s demands and instead spend their time imposing their own will on their environment. By so doing, they succeed in modifying the influence prevailing changes or even in creating new ones. These are the true pioneers, the dreamers, the innovators and the doers who refuse to accept conformity and instead contribute to the changing society. The over-riding hallmark of all these leaders is a willingness to stand against the forces of change and attempt to impose their personal will and direction. This was what the great English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, no doubt alluded to when he recorded these words in his outstanding tragedy, Hamlet:

“God has given you one face,

 and you must make yourself another.”

From its very inception, the history of the universe has been recorded and measured by the changes that have taken place. Its very birth was the result of certain cataclysmic changes scientists refer to as “the Big Bang”, resulting eventually in life itself. Since then there have been ongoing series of events occurring that have altered the conditions of survival, and resulting in a sequential evolution of species. This has continued unabated and include such cyclical changes and natural upheavals and catastrophes which when they occurred produced changes locally and globally. Anthropologists spend all their professional lives searching for the existence of changes in nature in order to explain its present developments. All their work revolves being able to demonstrate and explain the effects of change on the world and all its inhabitants.

In every one of us, change is constantly occurring. Everything we do or say or think results from, and induces some type of change in our milieu. And conversely, change in anything will affect every one of us in one way or another. Beginning with birth and until death, change is the beginning and the end and nothing will occur without it. Even at the microscopic level of our being, we are undergoing constant and unrelenting changes, whether this involves new growth, regeneration, organ function or degeneration. The mere fact that we are here today is precisely because we were able to more readily adapt and change, while the less fortunate species disappeared because of lack of adaptability. The great Naturalist and Anthropologist Sir Charles Darwin, author of “The Origin of Species” stated this most eloquently in the following quotation:

“It is not the strongest of the species, or the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

          Reinhold Niebuhr, the great American theologian and commentator, in commenting on the fundamental need for everyone to aggressively take the appropriate action to seek change, gave the following advice on the impact of change on our lives:

“Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are, for what you could become.”

This statement is, in my opinion, the most potent advice that can be given to any one. The difference between success and failure is most often the result of our ability to deal with our changing environment. We admire those who have achieved success but fail to recognize that their achievement came only after they were able to accept the fundamental challenge of change. They were willing to take risks and venture into the unknown, while the others preferred to stay in their safe harbors and avoid the challenges of change.

        

Barack Obama, the 44^th President of the United States of America, during his political campaigns, was more direct and definitive in his comments when he spoke of the need for change:

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for;

We are the Change that we seek.”

Many people have been critical of this statement as mere “political rhetoric without an ounce of truth or validity.” But whether this is the real intent or not, does not take away the truly profound nature of the statement’s content. Indeed, change to be truly effective, must begin with the individual and cannot wait for a “right time”. It will do us all well if we recognize that, contrary to the general impression, change is never rigidly controlled, but rather is very flexible and subject to great individual modification. It must never be your master, but always your servant!

         Meaningful change always begins with the individual and irrespective of the initial appearance, is predominantly subjective and only rarely is it truly randomly occurring. The late Dr. Wayne Dyer, the internationally renowned American author and speaker, in one of his lectures in 2008, stated this fact in simple and dramatic terms:

“When you Change the way you look at things,

The things you look at, will Change.”

-We will never lose sight of our hopes and dreams and will stand a greater chance of achieving them, if we always remember to apply this rule to every thing we think or do.

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