Embrace Change

In my profession I hear a lot about change. I also hear a lot about the times of radical change we are living in.

Humanity has never stopped living in times of radical change.

Change is constant; it is given. Change could just as well be the only constant in our life. We do not drive change; we live in it. We do not facilitate it; we navigate through it.

Heraclitus quoted that

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” 

Change is here. Whether we want it or not, we are living organisms and every cell in our body, every thought in our mind, every beat of our heart is different day after day. It’s evolving, it’s worsening or it’s progressing. It is taking the natural course of life.

And this organism operates in another organism - a social, political, economic and environmental context - that is also under constant movement, under constant change.

My question then to all of us is the following:

What if instead of surrendering to the change that defeats us, we take a stand and we fight for the change that will have the best impact on humanity? 

No Walled Journey

If life is a journey, then in our lives we follow the path of this journey. And either we know exactly where we want to end and we follow the path that will take us there, or we follow our intuition and as Antonio Machado says we make our path by walking: caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.

In any case, there are times when we find ourselves facing walls in this path. And some people stop and stare at the walls intimidated, disappointed, or afraid. They wait for the walls – the obstacles – to go away. Others might wait for someone to come and “save” them from what seams a dead end or a hopeless situation.

People, it’s just a wall. Stop staring at it and just jump over it! Climb if you must or tear the damn thing down. No one tells you that you cannot do it but you. There are no hopeless situations unless you determine them as such. There is no obstacle that can’t be overcome, no problem that can’t be solved and no wall that can’t be jumped.

So, next time you are faced with a wall, just jump over it and continue the journey. 

Dutifully Cheerful

By far, one of my favorite actors of all time is David Niven.

When asked why he seemed so incredibly cheerful all the time, Niven would reply:

"Well, old bean, life is really so bloody awful that I feel it’s my absolute duty to be chirpy and try and make everybody else happy too."

Now, anyone that knows a few basic things about his life, knows his life wasn’t all rosy, that he had his share of tragedies.

That made me go 18 years back, when I expressed my desire to do my practice with clinically depressed patients; a fellow student asked “why you, such a cheerful person want to do that?” ignoring my sense of duty as Niven had expressed it.

Maybe the best and bigger smiles come from the cheerful persons who have experienced the “bloody awful” side of life and work hard to ensure the happy side of it for others.

So, next time you see someone cheerful do not assume that his life is problem free. Maybe, it’s just someone fulfilling his/her duty ;) .

My wish for 2012

If I had just one wish for the New Year, and for every new year, every new day, every new moment of our life, it would be this:

 

With life as short as a half taken breath,
Don't plant anything but Love.

Rumi