I am changing/have changed. Should I be worried?
If you have grown up anywhere between 500 BC and the present,chances are you have been repeatedly subjected to the ‘change is the only constant’ sermon.Around 500 BC Greek philosopher Heraclitus proposed that change was central to the universe.And thus,since then countless hapless generations have been forced to live with inalienable truth that the only thing unchanging is change.
Seeing myself as a solid,living proof of the above statement I had no choice but to accept its very potent universality. The changes I speak of in myself pertain to certain definite changes in my way of perception,analysis and reaction to various things or stimuli. They are also perhaps the reason I am writing this article.
I now prefer a more factual,more realistic outlook and not my earlier dreamy,rose-tinted approach. I now prefer to speak out what-is-on-in-my-mind more than ever before. I now know that it is of utmost importance to be most of me and least of anybody else. I now know that my attitude and understanding today will decide what and where I will be tomorrow.
I am aware that most(or all) of these ‘changes’ may simply be coming of age,or onset of the mature-and-wise-period (Where are the wisdom teeth,though?)But strangely enough, I can strongly relate them to my advent in Manipal. And I can safely say that for most of us coming out from the safe haven of our homes to this small university town would have been a major reason causing a great deal of change (s) in our lives.
What is the big deal about change anyway? Some are good,and some are bad..but in the long run most of them are good if we can react and adapt adequately.
We are creatures of comfort,we feel overtly reassured by routine. And that is why we end up reacting negatively to change.Apprehension and fear at the slightest pretext of change makes us so defensive and unrelenting,that we fail to see what could be possibly positive,or what and how it could be turned in our favour.A famous Japanese proverb says that the bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists. Very similarly,the human instinct to stay in the strict confines of the comfort zone may make us lose out on all that we have ever wanted,or all that we may regret to never have let in our lives later.It is quite ironic that we seek change because we are tired of the same old. But when we seek it,we want it to occur on our own terms. If that does happen,then we are either ridiculously lucky or blessed or it is one of those rare/first times.
Because more often than not change,in whatever form has to aptly dealt with.
Acceptance is the sole key is what I have come to realise. The more we run away from the change that has already encroached upon our lives,the more we run away from life itself.Acquiring this acceptance involves comprehending the situation,realising the long-term effects the change will have on you and your life and doing all that you can do to turn things in your favour,at least to the extent that would make you more comfortable.
That the human himself is the huge sea of resources which can drive him through the worst adversity has been long stressed upon. And therefore,even though all that happens around/to us cannot be altered,how we choose to live with it can.
I have changed. I will,probably change more in the future. Should I be worried?
No.
For,they must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.
~Confucius
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