Change
By Ed B.
Rehab Centers:
Everything must either change or
die, including me. It seems like most
people resist and fear change; perhaps
I do more than others. I seem to
remember the “good old days” with
fond nostalgia, when life was simpler
and I was younger. So many of my
friends and dreams had not yet died;
so many disappointments had not yet
made me feel old and tired.
Each day I try to remember
myself, and to reconstruct who (I
think) I am. But my memory is
imperfect and besides, I have learned
so much in just one day! If I try to
fight the swirling parade of change,
both inside and outside me, and
don’t change, I will get confused and
upset. But if I hold my head up and
enjoy going along for the ride, then I
adapt to the unexpected curve and
get back in the swing of things. I am
not the same man I was five minutes
ago, let alone five years ago. Just as I
can never step into the same river
twice, for I have changed (and so has
the river), likewise my experience has
been changing from moment to
moment, and my attitude about
myself and the world is born anew
every day.
All of creation changes. It grows
and evolves. The changing world
affects me in subtle ways that are
hard to grasp. It is said that “we
recreate ourselves every day, but due
to lack of imagination, we recreate
ourselves in the image of who we were
yesterday!”
Yet LIFE IS CHANGE, and my
only choice is whether or not I accept
it and surrender to it. There’s a part
of me that yearns for stability, for
reassurance, for PREDICTABILITY
in my life, and that part of me dreads
having to adapt to new rules and
worries that seem to change on a
daily basis. It is hard for me to
remember, that when I’m not in
ACCEPTANCE I’m in DENIAL.
Change is inevitable. Yet when I am
spiritually centered and full of life, I
know it is desirable, because it sweeps
away the debris and lets me be
excited about my life, to see
everything through new eyes. When
I’m spiritually centered in the light I
feel ageless! I don’t have to ‘like’
change; but I might as well, because
it’s not going to stop to please me!
People are always saying that “human
nature never changes,” but over just a
few generations, even this society has
changed, in ways we never thought
possible. Where a century ago it was
considered normal to mistrust or
exploit people of other races, ages,
sexes or classes, animals and even
nature herself, today such attitudes
have become unacceptable to most
people. Things we thought were “in
the blood” and true for all time have
been washed away, leaving a new
world with new problems and new
hopes. When I was born in 1957,
the first Frisbee was invented; today
we have 2 inch color TV ’s; and
tomorrow who knows?
While the world is changing we
think the world is in upheaval, and
fear it may end at any moment! After
we survive the change, we wonder
what all the fuss was about, and start
to worry about the next crisis. When
I accept change and become willing
to change myself, I start to be in tune
with the times. My new friendships
and my life must grow and change
or wither and turn to stone. Those I
know can change too; if I don’t let
them I hold them back.
When my own spiritual center is
stable, calm, loving, accepting,
honest, patient and tolerant then all
of the outer changes I must undergo
will become as natural as the change
from night to day or winter to spring.
As long as I open my mind and heart
to the God of my understanding, to
others and myself, then my
understanding will continue to grow
while the God that gave it and
sustains it loves me just the same.
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