We love it and we hate it and we need it.
Change: Making something different from what it was or what it will be if we don’t act in new ways.
What changes might I make to maximize my health, or the health of my family, or the health of our community, or our planet?
If there is too much bullying happening in our schools or at the workplace, what change is needed? If too many people live in isolation or loneliness, lacking meaningful and lasting friendship, how can we make that different?
Change is hard work whether it is personal or social change that we are seeking.
Resistance to change is normal and even healthy because it invites us to think about what we are doing and what we really want. What is the future for ourselves or others to which we aspire? What future do we want for ourselves, our community, our society and our world?
I like the common piece of practical philosophy which goes something like this: “If you want to change the results you are getting you need to change your thinking”. Someone else said it like this: “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results that it gets”.
When the music being played is not as it should be, sometimes the musician needs to change her technique. The problem may also be the instrument itself. We need to help each other to figure it out.
If we are not happy about what is happening in us or around us we need to embrace change. When we encounter injustice we need to embrace change.
One of our main moral and social responsibilities is to be agents of change, actors that are striving to make a difference in the world by using the time, gifts, skills, knowledge, talents, and resources that have come to us.
Have a conversation today with someone about change that matters to you. Start anywhere. There is no need to solve anything. The important thing is that we are in the conversation.
It matters.
Nathan
