One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others. – Niccolò Machiavelli
Change Happens to PDA's. You don't want to carry a vintage 80's cell phone!
What does that mean?
While this quote is almost certainly about political change, and how a ruler might use this to their advantage, I believe it also works well for us as individuals. When you change one habit, what happens next? You just spent a fair bit of effort, self control and will power to change how you respond, do you now freeze in place, having achieved perfection?
I know that the more I have changed myself, the more I have seen that needs changing. Unfortunately, this can be a negative spiral, as well as a positive one. Do you think a heavy user of drugs just decided one day to take up heroin? While it is possible, most seem to make a little change at a time, slowly moving down the path of destruction.
Why is change important?
No matter what is going on in your life, nothing is ever exactly the same. Even in prison or a monastery, with schedules and restrictions of all sorts, each day is different. Perhaps not by a lot, but things are changing. We grow older, the seasons slowly change, and our thoughts wander.
Change, it is said is inevitable (except when dealing with vending machines). Get used to it. It might be getting better, it might be getting worse, but it is most definitely changing. You have three choices: fight it, ignore it, or accept it. But change will happen.
Fighting change is usually futile and almost never worth the effort. Ignoring change just means you’re going to get run over by the change. Accepting the change allows you to work with it and try to make it serve you, improve you and help you become a better person.
Where can I apply this in my life?
In this post, I’m going to talk about change in your personal life. While there is a great deal of change happening in the world today, most of it is beyond our ability to directly address. That doesn’t mean you should ignore it, but instead support those who share your views, and focus on how the changes will impact your life.
In general, I would recommend against fighting change. I will allow that some change should be resisted, but usually change will happen with or without your consent. If the change is for the worse (by your standards), then find allies and make your case. Just remember the other side may win, and if so, the change will happen.
Also, in general, I would recommend against ignoring change. Would you like to be the kerosene lamp manufacturer after the light bulb and electric wiring became common? Is that change you can ignore? What about the tack & harness manufacturers after Ford and is “infernal combustion engine” became prevalent? Change still happened, right?
Finally, I would recommend in favor of accepting change. I know, change can be scary. It can also be fun. Sometimes it’s both at the same time. Remember your adolescence? For most of us the changes in our bodies were both scary and fun, exhilarating, even! Learning to drive was both for me, but it was a change I was willing to accept.
How do you accept change? To start with, I would quit thinking of it as being a big pain, an annoyance, designed to disrupt my carefully planned life. Then I would try to look at it from a calm perspective. What will you have to do to make this change part of your life? Make a plan, and list the things that you’ll have to change, learn or otherwise alter. Then get with the change, start working on making it part of your life.
Then the next step is to make it your helper, not something to fear. When we had our first child, everything was new. Yes, there was trepidation, worry, even a little fear. Why is he still crying? Fed? Yep. Burped? Yep. Changed? Yep. Warm, but not too much? Yep.
How do you take something that makes so many demands on your life and change it from something you fear, into change that helps you? For me, becoming a parent awakened a nurturing and protecting part of me I didn’t really know I had. I used that part of the change to keep me focused on what needed to be done, despite the smell.
Other changes aren’t so stinky. Find out how the change can help you. When I decided to lose weight, I realized I could focus on what I was giving up (making change a pain), or on what I was going to be getting (making change help me). I lost fat-weight, gained lean weight and was in the best shape since High School.
Change is going to happen. Face it, analyze it, learn from it, and make it your own. Use the changes in your life to clear out the old, make room for the new, and improve yourself or your situation. And then make the next change. And the next. And…
From: Twitter, @PhilosophyQuotz
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/niccolomac157835.html
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