Essays: What is change?

A change is a shift from the normal. Nature changes continually.The four seasons bring in the different challenges and joys of living through the climatic changes.

In the spring, there is the re-birth of nature. The human spirit is eager to embrace the nuances of spring. The environment transforms as the flora and fauna emerge while they grow to full bloom in the summer.

When the wind blows gently there is an insignificant disruption of the normal. But when the wind moves fiercely during a hurricane, the impact is devastating. There is chaos. Individuals are emotionally and physically shattered, yet they pick up their spirits and re-build. It appears that there is no one to point fingers at. 

On a gentler side, walking along a beach, feeling the waves of the ocean waters coming in and out of the beach, the sand is moving around to create a different look on the beach. By the next morning the beach appears metamorphosed; sometimes it is scattered with debris from the ocean while other times it is smooth with some undulating mounds of sand along the beach. It’s a new day.

The autumn season brings in a tapestry of colours; the leaves are changing colour and eventually fall to the ground creating a beautiful carpet that people walk on or through the leaves. As the trees are left bare and the temperatures dip, it is a sign of winter approaching. 

Winter storms can have a destructive impact, yet after the storm has moved away there is a sense of serenity and calmness in the winter’s night. It is quiet and peaceful as everything is covered with fluffy white snow transforming the streets, cars and homes beyond recognition. People begin their tasks of moving away the snow from pathways and cars to resume day to day living. They adjust to nature’s changes. 

But how do people adjust to change in their personal or work environment? In a subtle way, adjustments occur; they can occur randomly in an insignificant manner or they can be of a great magnitude through planned events. The human spirit either frets over it or thrives in it. The outcome would depend on the emotional intelligence of the individual. The ability to reason out the change without a sense of loss of the old is a way of thriving in change. Once an individual begins to feel insecure of the new way, irrational thinking begins to set in. A myriad of questions are posed in defense of the old way, and appropriate answers ought to resolve the tension of insecurity. There has to be active listening to the answers to absorb the impact of the new way, but sometimes the human spirit can be defensive and will not be ready to absorb the answers.

Time is of the essence and this can be a luxury that cannot be afforded in a change. Incremental adjustments can be adapted to, much more easily than being thrust into big doses of changes that have to be implemented quickly. Ultimately, some individuals thrive in a changing environment while others do not. Do those that thrive in change bear the responsibility of assisting those who struggle with change? Perhaps, it becomes a matter of generosity of spirit to assist in whatever way that is possible.