Change

The only thing that stays the same is nothing.

I can’t recall if I came up with this quote or if I’ve remembered it from somewhere, but it’s one that’s stuck with me.

Most things in life are subject to shifting, evolving or ending in one way or another. Everything except change. Change is the only thing that will never change. It will always happen, and there’s nothing we can do, try as we might, to stop things from changing.

Most of us spend a large amount of time and energy resisting or trying to control situations in the hope that they won’t change. That if things will just stay as they are, I’ll be able to find peace and be happy. Or that if I can just get things lined up in a certain way, at a certain point I’ll have all my ducks in a row, and I’ll be able to relax and settle. Interestingly, it often seems that this is when the universe will rip the rug out from under us and throw everything up in the air. Perhaps that’s the reason why: because when things are too settled, too comfortable, too still, there can be no growth. When we are playing it safe within our comfort zone, evolution can’t occur. It’s only when we are in situations that challenge us that we can begin to grow.

Rather than resisting the inevitability of change, we need to learn to move with the current of life and its inherent imperanence. When we can practice being present to what is occurring, rather than pushing against it, denying it or condemning it, we can instead be with things just as they are. This relaxing into the now immediately dissolves a lot of the suffering that arises. Because it is the resistance that is causing the suffering. Instead of change and impermanence being something we fear, it can instead be something that reminds us of the beauty of what it means to exist, to be alive in this world. I suspect this is something that comes with age and experience, but my feeling is that we can begin to see the inevitability of change as an opportunity to practice gratitude for what has come, and keep a sense of openness for what may be to come next.