Tag Archives: Accepting Change

Balance and Change

It is one of life’s most commonly accepted axioms; everything changes. Why, then, do we spend so much time fighting against it? We are continually evolving in our outer experience and our inner experience as well. It is the challenge of being human that for our lives and the working systems of our bodies to grow and work well, they are faced with a significant problem.  We need to continually be open to new input and maintain an equilibrium of that system.

Let’s look at being human and consider what change means in our outer and inner lives. When you look at how dependent we are on transition, perhaps we will be a little less resistant to it when it enters our lives.  Change is the cycle that allows us to grow into what we are meant to be, and it will enable us to have the entire life experience in a physical sense — ending with the last change to non-existence.

Inner Changes and Balance

Inside of all people, several complex systems are working to keep us functioning at our highest potential level. These systems help us digest our food, circulate our blood, breathe, think, and move, to name a few vital functions.  All of these systems are working to maintain a balance and avoid extremes. This is a constant struggle because as we continually allow new things into a system, a chance that they may harm us or throw that system out of balance exists.  But that is the risk we must take in any order.

Not allowing new additions to a system forces that system to die, which is not a good alternative for those who depend on breathing, eating, thinking, having a heart that beats, etc.  So we must ride the delicate balance between maintaining equilibrium and introducing new things into our systems.  The food we eat sustains us, but if it isn’t healthy, it causes our systems to weaken and eventually fall out of balance. Then we need to struggle, either with weight, diabetes, heart problems, or some other out-of-balance challenge.

Outside is a Balance Too

This is a less obvious one because we are continually trying to prove to the world that we are separate from all others, but in the end, we are just going to show that we need balance with other people as well.  We develop close personal relationships, with some just passing friendships and others who are our sworn enemies. But all links are input into our lives, and they cause us to move beyond where we are. If you took all the information out of life, you are working with a dead system.  Just like the food we eat provides energy for our day, the people we spend time with give the power for our experiences.

We struggle to maintain an equilibrium in our lives, but we continually need new people coming into our existence to teach us new things and allow us to grow. They can all be a challenge, but without them, we will stagnate and not experience growth.  But on a less serious note, we will not be able to be the best people we can be, sitting by ourselves and avoiding contact with people.  You have to let others enter your life, have conversations outside your comfort zone, and grow.  Like food in the body or oxygen in the lungs, other people provide the fuel for improvement and growth.  But it is always a balance to maintain the time you need for yourself and the time you need with others.

Life changes constantly threaten balance, but that is the way of things. Nobody can stay the same in life. New ideas are going to come into your life, on the inside and the outside. Our part is to recognize this will happen and do our best to ride the wave and keep our balance. If we should wipe out, then learn the lesson and move forward as best we can.

“Fortunate, indeed, is the man who takes exactly the right measure of himself and holds a just balance between what he can acquire and what he can use.” – Peter Latham.

“Change is inevitable, and the disruption it causes often brings both inconvenience and opportunity.”   —Robert Scoble

“Change is inevitable. Progress is optional.”  —Tony Robbins

 

Grateful for Change

leaves change and so do we
A picture I took at a random location of the fall foliage.

 The lessons that nature teaches us are on display all around us each and every day.  All we have to do is listen and being fortunate enough to live in an area the has a distinct four seasons, I am lucky to experience these changes and I am grateful for it.

For many years I am ashamed to say that I never really enjoyed or contemplated too much about it, but lately, I can’t help but be amazed and think about all that the changes of the season bring to the world.  Right now it is autumn in Maine and that means that each and every day you will see a wide array of colors, red, yellow, orange and even brown.  This change where once there was only green makes you think and often about gratitude.

On the Surface

Seeing the leaves change is a pretty miraculous thing. To think that nature knows exactly how to work itself for the trees to survive is amazing, and further than that there is the show they put on.  I have been fortunate enough to see, bright-colored leaves reflecting on the still waters of a fall lake surface.  It brings many thoughts to my mind as I look at the colors and understand them for what they are. Harbingers of what is to come and we merely need to listen to hear their warnings and to learn from them.

Change Is Constant

One of the best reminders of fall is that change is happening all around us all the time.

fall is a season which depicts change
Leaves are falling all around, it’s time I was on my way.

You may not be able to see it visually, but everything is changing all the time.  These variations are usually never as visual as the leaves but they are as real.  Each relationship, job, and personal journey is changing all the time.

No matter what you do and no matter what you think of your current circumstances, it matters little because soon they will be different because things are always changing.   Just like the fall will eventually give up its life to the oncoming winter, so must we learn to let go of our attachments to this life.

It is the values of these changes that make them appear good or bad.  Yet aren’t they simply just experiences?  The fall season helps me to contemplate and understand the changes that are happening in life all the time.  I have a gratefulness inside for all of the changes that have happened in my life and that growth is not possible without change.

Endings Are Just Endings

Another great thought of fall is the twilight of the year, the ending of summer and how this season represents an ending in our lives.  The phrase “The Autumn of our Lives”, captures this effectively.

I have a problem with this phrase because we simply do not know with any kind of certainty when this life is going to end.   it may be over in five minutes or it may last another 30-40 years.  Nobody knows.

When you look at the fall it will have an ending, just as all of our lives will, but there is a hidden promise in the fall.  It is there in every nostalgic feeling and thought, that eventually, the spring and beautiful summer will come again.  We just need to be patient.  All things will eventually end, that is the way that the universe works.  All things have a beginning, a middle and an ending.

This is not a bad thing, it is only a thing.   So it teaches you to enjoy the summer, or the fall or the winter or whatever season you are experiencing right now because that is all you have right now.  There may never be another summer to look forward to, so not completely enjoying today is a foolhardy choice.

The fall makes me grateful for each and every day and what it has to offer.