It’s a natural process. Seeds sprout, saplings emerge, plants grow, flowers blossom, fruits ripen. Sun rises, shines brightly at noon, gradually cools down, silently sets itself and lets the moon rise. Conception, tiny tot, playful child, growing adolescent, experiencing youth, dynamic mid-life, greying maturity, whitening old age, retiring wisdom.
Not all change is natural, pre-set and involuntary. There are many kinds of change. Serious and humorous.
I want you to perform better. You should study more. Can’t you dress better? It tasted differently last time. Those days were golden days. Let us crack it, guys. What’s the trend? Indeed a transformative experience! It’s different. Was it like this before?
Change happens all the time. In fact, the Sanskrit word for the world we live in is Jagat, which means that which is moving all the time. That which is never constant. There is change happening all the time. The word so aptly reflects the nature of the concept it refers to.
Let’s take a closer look at this concept. To me, trying to effect change seems to be ubiquitous. Everybody in a significant way is trying to bring about a change. Let me give you some examples:
- At Schools, teachers are trying to effect change in the understanding of children.
- At Hospitals, doctors aim to effect change in the working of the internal systems of the body.
- Social Activists undertake activities to effect change to realise their desired outcomes.
- Politicians constantly endeavour to effect change in the power balances, peoples choices and popularity.
- Corporations strive to effect change in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns.
- Extremist organisations use fear, violence and radicalized means to effect change to their position in the world.
- Each of us, at a certain intensity, put efforts to change ourselves (Please note that the wilful intention, ability and possibility to change is a characteristic trait of a human being. In this dimension, a human is significantly different from any other species. This is one reason, I despise the term ‘This is my nature’)
- Religious institutions, Prophets and Saints endeavour to change the understanding of people.
- Husbands want their wives to change and wives want their husbands to change.
- Kids want their parents to change and parents want their kids to change.
- We want our neighbours to change and they want us to change.
I can imagine God saying “Everybody wants change all the time. Phew! Relax folks! Don’t test the limits of the system !”
What you just read is an indicative list. I am sure you can come up with many more. When you look at this with this lens, you will see that everybody is trying to change something or the other. Some succeed, some don’t. Some are great at it, some are not so great. For some, it seems very natural, for others it is not.
Understanding the process of change, nuances of change, dynamics of change, approaches to change, levers to change, elements of change, et al can make each one of us successful in our attempts to change. Knowing this is like holding the key to everything.
At the same time, wisdom tells us to be contented and not desire change as a wiser means to equilibrium, peace and tranquillity.
Think about it.
Think about CHANGE
संस्कृतम् 