“ Only the wisest and stupidest... never change” Confucius
With so much going on in the world today, there is stressful news coming at us internationally from so many directions. To name a few in broad strokes, things like a pandemic, a war, environmental disasters, political infighting, and gun violence (I know, this is mostly an American trauma, but it adds weight to the universal pile.) In the middle of all these things are the everyday happenings. Life just keeps on going, health, family, school, work and play. “The sun will come out tomorrow” (“Annie”, Martin Charnin, lyricist)
It seems the center of this concoction of swirling stress is our human reaction to transitions. Personally, I was never very good at dealing with change. And I can give you all sorts of reasons why, another time! Besides, as life experience inevitably brought change and transition, I actually got a lot better at going through the process and building confidence that it would all turn out fine in the end. Or some version of fine. One of my cliché mottos: Worry and guilt are useless emotions. Worry is about something that hasn’t happened, and if you feel guilty, make amends. It’s realizing that anxiety about the changes will not make things better as we cross the threshold into new ways of doing things and looking at things.
So, logically the lesson is to relax with the changes, and enjoy a bunch of platitudes along the way: go with the flow, enjoy the journey, one foot in front of the other, the only constant is change, embrace the change, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, go with the tide, ride with it, if you don’t like something change it, change brings progress, roll with the punches, change your thoughts and you change the world, be the change you wish to see, we are the change we seek, step out of your comfort zone, when a door closes somewhere a window opens, “To improve is to change” (W. Churchill), “Keep moving forward” (ML King Jr), “One book can change the world” (Malala)
The world’s greatest philosophers and leaders have offered perspective on dealing with change. Here are a few more words of hope and encouragement about living in times of transition and dealing with change, from great authors:
“I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you`re proud of, and if you find that you`re not, I hope you find the strength to start all over again.” Eric Roth, Author and Screenplay writer (from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
And a favorite:
“After all, tomorrow is another day,”
Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind, M. Mitchell)
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