We Are Surrounded By Constant Change
If you’re like me, you knew the conversation was over as soon as the amateur paleontologist and self-styled cat whisperer uttered one key phrase. It was a phrase that indicated there was no argument, no plea to reason or mercy, and no flashy display that would move the conversation forward. When one leg refuses to move, it’s difficult for the rest of you to get anywhere. This conversation was similarly locked up, not with “we’re done now,” or “shut-up Adam,” or even, “stop talking before the man from the carnival hears us hiding in this oddly spacious cannon,” but simply with “That’s just the way I am.”
For most of us, we’ve accepted that life is made up of constant changes. We try to string them together with our routines and habits but we know that eventually things will not be as they were. We have all become relatively aware of the constant change happening outside of ourselves. If you want to think more on those kinds of changes, I recommend the songs of Bob Dylan.
The issue with paying too much attention to the change around us, and the issue indicated by “that’s just the way I am,” is that it ignores our part in the equation. Birds migrate, the moon will wax and wane, and there’s a five-year shelf life for actors playing Batman. We are surrounded by this constant change, but all too often don’t think about our own role as a changing, adaptable participant in that world.
The reason humans have found ourselves where we are on the food chain is because of an ability to adapt and change with a wide variety of environments. The world didn’t adapt to the needs of our cave-dwelling ancestors, they adapted to the crazy world outside of the cave. It took a long while, but it has brought us here, today, where there is so much chaos around us, the only constant we can find is ourselves. In such a fleeting world, letting go of that one fixed point, your own personality and perspective, is an understandably terrifying proposition.
This was driven home for me recently when I was thinking about some friends who have chosen to get into better shape. Not only are they dedicating themselves to longer hours involving more physical work to modify years of contrary habits, they are doing it publicly. They have identified a personal point of weakness and are shining a light on it by taking steps to adapt. They decided they could improve the quality of life around them through simple change and took the responsibility for that change.
There are two very important decisions happening there. First, the fact that an individual chooses to make a change in themselves for personal growth is always worth celebrating for its particular brand of bravery. Second, and maybe more importantly, the change starts with the individual acknowledging that they are capable of improving themselves.
Phrases like, “that’s just the way I am,” mean that the speaker has no intent of changing because they cannot conceive that they could be improved. Any conflict around the individual can only be the result of the world not adapting to the speaker. The cat-crazed paleontologist is probably still “just the way she is,” and the conversation would still go nowhere. If an individual assumes they are the only constant in the world, they will be left behind. It is only when we accept that we are a changing, growing part of the world around us, that progress can be made and conversations aren’t brought to a premature standstill.
