Aug 21 2008

Are You Afraid of Change?

Published by Ken Stewart at 6:00 pm under Change

Quilt of Belonging: Lee Towndrow The one consistent thing in life is change. If that is the case, and we know it, why do we resist change so?

The “forge” portion of my blogs name came from the realization several years ago that you have to commit to change and “break on through to the other side” (to quote Jim Morrison). Often through what feels like fire nipping at your heels, whipping at your face, and eating at your gut, you must fight your way through our primal instinct to resist change!

Change is not easy, but it is expected and can be managed.

So it is change, my friends, that helps us interact with one another. Without change, there would be no need for community, no need to interact with one another. Change, indeed, is the catalyst by which we are forced to react, to interact and decide a direction. This ripples out into an eventual realization that all things are finite, and must be replenished.

In this way, change becomes a compelling force bringing us together.

Build Community

Our lives can be akin to a piece of thread - by itself it really has very little value. Sure it has some use, but ultimately there is no strength or greater purpose to it. No two pieces of thread are exactly the same in length, density, or composition… yet in finding a way to mold them through careful exercise into a functional whole - a blanket of community is born.

This collection of threads creates a useful and beautiful whole; not organs alone does a body make, but the sum of its parts with such wonderful form and function do we celebrate.

With these threads as a metaphor to our individual existences, each place we overlap another thread represents a point of impact in another’s life. Some will be large and some will be small, but it is these cross-patterns, these overlays in the knitting, if you will, that are so wonderful - that you must relish.

The Lesson

So it is that we learn from each other, by depending upon one another; it is at these “touch-points” where interaction and stimulation occur. A synergy of thoughts or actions coming together as a collective whole.

We are touched each and every day by those around us, and must decide how to act, react, and interact. We take away from each experience a lesson: that lesson, however is ours to decide. It is up to you how you perceive change when it is all around you. It is up to you whether you will step through the fire of change or allow your spirit to wither in its intensity.

image credit: Lee Towndrow

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

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    Viewing 2 Comments

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      We are our own worst enemies in this department. A 'Do As I Say, Not As I Do' philosophy.
      We all want to embrace change, but when face with the wall, we always resist the effort.
      It takes a lot of self reliance and self realization to be able to 'not' resist change.

      Great post.
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      Wow...well done. I love this quote too, "Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt..." I don't know who said it.

      And to expand on your metaphor - threads, and connections and patterns are often observed two-dimensional - project this into THREE dimensions and the complex becomes incomprehensible.

      And with that, how much influence do any of us really have on the whole? I would say not much AND immense at the same time.

      By taking care of our own personal space, we influence the whole by example and implicit attraction.

      Interesting, Change seems to be the latest mantra - but I ask, how can anyone NOT be for change? And, does it even matter if you are or are not for Change - Change Happens - there is no way around it. It's like thinking you can do something behind God's back - you can't.

      ohoh...did i just mention God...
     

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