Life can only continue with the passage of time. And time, by its very definition, requires change. Therefore change is a fundamental part of life, and life can only progress if change exists. This is not an exercise is sophistry, but simple, observable fact. Why do so many fear change? Why do so many what things to stay the way they were in the past? That is effectively saying I want time to stop; LIFE to stop. Why would people choose to stop growing; to stop life in its tracks? Why would we choose death over life?
When new life enters the world, it does everything it can to grow; to change. A flower emerging from a seed reaches for the sun, while at the same time letting its roots reach down for nourishment. It does not seek to stay in its protected seed, or worse yet try to crawl back in once it left. A new-born child starts exploring its world the moment it emerges. It does not hide from new things, rather it seeks them out on all levels of awareness. I child knows no fear … until adults instill it in them. This is true for all animals (not only humans). Plants, animals … life STARTS by seeking newness, by TRYING to find change. Change is the way of life. Refusing to change is the way of death.
So again why do so many refuse to change? In some ways we can blame this on religion. Religion is often focused on the “next” world, saying that the life we live now is only a test for a life to come. We are taught that is more important is that we pass the test, not that we seek fullness now. Kind of like the way the American school system works now. What is my point with this ramble? It is this. Continuously trying to drag the world backwards has proven ineffectual over and over. Refusing to change what has really not been beneficial to human growth is the height of insanity. Conservative thinking is not all bad, sometime the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” concept has merit. But to refuse to change ANYTHING, out of fear or because it is uncomfortable personally, is a purely selfish way to be. The future is in what is new. We can take those parts of the past that helped us grow with us, sure. But we need to leave behind the things that stunted us. That is the advantage of HAVING a past. We can learn from it.
The simple way to change the world is to teach our children how to embrace the new, not pound the old and unworkable into their heads. This does not mean don’t teach about what once was, but allow them to be exposed to what might be, or at least other ways of thinking. Allow our children to not only think for themselves, but to DECIDE for themselves what will work, and what will not. Trying to keep things the way they have always been … even when “always has been” often proves an ineffectual way of life, is really a silly way to live. There is no denying, growth requires change.
We need to stop trying to live in non-viable world model. Take the good from the past (there is much good there) and leave the garbage behind. Stop being so selfish; stop putting our own comfort and fears before the potential of our children. Stunting their growth is no way to enter the future. It is not only their world that we are creating, but their RIGHT to have a healthy and happy world, and not to be forced to live in OUR past. The greatest legacy we can give them is an open mind and an appreciation of the value of change. Is it really so hard to do?
