CHANGE IS LIFE

“The only thing constant in this world is change”

This quotation, taken from one of the songs by India Arie, the successful R and B singer, is to my mind one of the fundament truths of life. Although this may sound paradoxical, change defines life. Life cannot exist without change and in the absence of change there is no life. It is Nature’s most constant and most basic ingredient. It existence ensures the continuity of life, and in many ways, is the yardstick by which all life is measured.

We see change occurring in all natural phenomena. They are in the basic environmental cycles such as night and day, sunshine and rain, cold and warm, or the seasonal variations which occur at regular predictable intervals. We witness it in every aspect of life formation, beginning at the very moment of inception and continuing without interruption to the end. There can be no constancy in life, and by definition life can only exist in a changing environment.

In similar manner, change is the most essential element in every aspect of human relationship. As in all other aspects of life, it serves to maintain relationships and gives a reason for living. In our daily interactions our lives are sustained by the alternating periods of highs and lows we experience. Without these we quickly stagnate and wither away. It is well recognized that the healthiest and strongest relationships are built on a foundation of constant, but predictable, change.

Change is constantly occurring, and its impact on each one of us is determined by the attitude we bring to bear. Many of us are content to passively accept its influence, and like the floating leaf, be carried along life’s journey like so much flotsam, ending in oblivion. But then there are others who are unwilling to accommodate life’s impositions and spend their time imposing their own will on their environment. By so doing, they succeed in modifying the natural changes or in creating new ones. These are the true pioneers, the dreamers, the innovators and the doers who ceaselessly 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.

From the beginning of the world’s existence, its history has been recorded and measured by the changes that have taken place. The very birth of the Universe was the result of certain cataclysmic changes scientists refer to as “the Big Bang”, resulting eventually in life itself. Since then there has been an ongoing series of events occurring that have altered the conditions of survival and resulting in a sequential evolution of species which continues unabated. These include cyclical changes, natural upheavals and catastrophes which when they occur produce changes locally and globally. It should be no surprise therefore to understand that Anthropologists spend their professional lives searching for the existence of changes in nature in order to explain present development.

In each and every one of us, change is constantly occurring. There is nothing we do or say or think that is not the result of change and conversely, does not result in change. Even at the microscopic level we are undergoing constant and unrelenting change. Whether it involves growth or regeneration, organ function or degeneration or birth or death, change is the beginning and the end. 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 a reduced adaptability. The great Naturalist and Anthropologist Sir Charles Darwin, author of “The Origin of Species” stated this most dramatically in the following quotation:

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent that survives.
It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”





< >



If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.
…….Author Unknown

There is nothing permanent except Change.
……Heraclitus

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.
…….Reinhold Niebuhr

Change is the essence of life.
Be willing to surrender what you are,
For what you could become.
….Reinhold Niebuhr

You must be the Change you wish to see in the world.
……Mohandas Gandhi

When you Change the way you look at things,
The things you look at, will Change.
……Wayne Dyer

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.
……Barack Obama