Change, change and more change!

Change is constant and, for the most part, only young children fail to notice change happening. I’m sure they perceive change, yet their ability to adapt to change seems easy. Outside of the occasional temper tantrum, which tend to be more about a possession (such as a toy) then resistance to something new, they are ever quick to adjust and move on to the next thing.

Left alone, most children will move from thing to thing and moment to moment without much regard for either. The sole purpose for them is in the doing; explore, taste, touch, crawl, walk, run, fall, outburst, try something else, etc.

The judgments are far simpler; I like this or I don’t, I’m going to do this or I’m not. They may not even be aware they are making judgments at all, but they are. In this process for the child as perceived from my vantage point is a tremendous freedom. As we grow, our attachments to objects (cars, homes, jewelry, etc.) and outcomes (status, position, winning, platinum records, etc.) tends to increase.

Judgments become more critical and through a process often happening below the level of consciousness, we search for a safe haven of perceived security where most things are predictable and controllable. Freedom gets progressively less free until dissatisfaction prompts a move to a new space or plateau to repeat the move from perceived security to dissatisfaction again.

This can continue your whole life until you reach a point where it hits you, possibly on your death bed, and you say to yourself “I’ve been missing the point.” As much as I would like to say otherwise, I resist change more than I like to admit. I could even attempt to justify it by saying I’m only human; however, my own judgmental thinking tells me to compare my life experience with the living examples of individuals who dispel the “I’m only human” justification by embracing change and experiencing more freedom in their lives; the same freedom that I see when I observe a child doing his or her thing.

I love Star Trek! In the Star Trek universe there is a race of aliens called The Borg that take over everything and everyone. Every being, finding themselves next in line for assimilation (take over) gets to hear these words; “resistance is futile!” So it is for all of us regarding change, and yet children get it.

Sure, you can say this is an oversimplification of the dynamics of life, what about . . . ? Fill in the blank with your cynicism. In school we learn a lot of things, and from our culture we learn a lot of things. I even remember the conversation parents were supposed to have with their kids regarding sex as the discussion about “the birds and the bees.”

However, not once do I recall a conversation about the importance of embracing change. Really?!?! Here is a rhetorical question; have you ever heard someone say “that’s just the way I am?” More self-imposed limitation and self-inflicted pain come from change resistance than anything else known to man! That’s what I think. Think deeply about what I just said and see what you can see, or not.

A better life can come with acceptance of change. Change can bring options which promote freedom. Freedom is exercised in the doing. The masters of doing are children; study them!

Just my thoughts!

-REL