Leadership Thought #380 – Change Is a Fact of Life

Change is a fact of life.  Like or not we will get older.  Our minds will get sharper then grow duller. Out bodies will get hard then grow softer.   Friends will come and go.  Loved ones will enter this world while others exit.  If we have children, they will grow up and become independent adults and leave the nest.  Our careers will follow a natural arc of emergence, growth, maturity and decline. We will have periods of minimal responsibility and other moments where it feels like we are overwhelmed with life/work obligations.  It is difficult to grasp at times, but very few things will ever stay the same.

It’s obvious when you see someone fighting the inevitable changes in their life.  I find this to be a good thing when it relates to holding onto things that are positive like your health or your intellect, but no so good when it has to do with misplaced ego or personal vanity.  As with everything there is a continuum.  Of course, we should do our best to live a vital and robust life; however, how we view what this means will need to continually evolve if we want to maintain a reasonable level of happiness.  A big part of life is acceptance of those things we cannot change. 

I’m at the midpoint of my own life which offers an interesting perspective.  I’ve more than likely lived more years than I have left.   As a result, time has begun to take on a new meaning.  I’m less interested in what’s possible and more appreciative of what I have. I also realize that I need to reprioritize my “bucket list” and that everything I’ve dreamed about doing probably won’t come true but maybe a few important things still will if I focus on them.  I seem to be more in tune with the lessons the universe is trying to teach me and more open to the inherent possibilities.  I’ve long passed my physical peak, but seem to be at a good place career wise.  I’m less interested in money and more interested in quality of life and personal impact.

I’ve experienced long term love and companionship and then lost it and hope to find it again.  I probably won’t have any more children but am lucky to have two wonderful healthy kids who are constant source of joy and pride.  My own parents are still here, but the relationship has changed dramatically as they near the end of their own life journey and all that means.  Sadly, many people I’ve cared about including a sister have passed away but their memory lives on in many subtle yet important ways.  Given all this, I now better realize that time is finite and that your close personal relationships should be cherished and nurtured with this mindset while other  relationships may be worth letting go and/or have served their purpose. 

We can’t fight what’s inevitable and much of the change in our lives is inevitable.  However, we can learn to navigate it and learn from it.  We can strive to become better, more humble, less judgmental, more understanding individuals.  We should certainly be proactive about making the positive changes that are important to us and live our lives intentionally, but we should never fall under the spell of thinking that we can command and control everything in our life to our own liking or fight nature.  The famous saying goes, “Man plans, God laughs.”  I’d like to amend this saying by adding “and then man accepts his fate, learns from it, readjusts and grows in a positive way.”

Related articles

• Change: The Great Inevitability of Life (divinenation.wordpress.com)
• When I’m 65 (ageukblog.org.uk)
• Change (Ready or Not) (veganchopnchat.com)
• Looking Forward (creatinganewearthtogether.com)
• Two Words – Let Go – Can Change Your Life Immediately! (creatinganewearthtogether.com)
• Do you embrace change, or snorkel in the sand? (thedivareport.typepad.com)
• Embrace Change (aninspiredapproach.com)

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