Change is a fact. Everything changes. People change. Circumstances change. How much change have you seen in your life? When my father was 82, he walked me through the changes he had seen in his lifetime, and it was startling. The world as he knew it as a child no longer exists. Some of the changes were beneficial, while others were not, but they occurred nonetheless.
Most of the changes that occur in our lives are beyond our control. All we can do is react to what’s taking place. You can both accept what is happening and do your best to navigate it or attempt to resist it. However, resistance is futile. The waves of technological and social change are only growing in intensity.
Once you accept the reality of change, then you can focus your energies on embracing the developments that will make your life easier and/or time more impactful. It’s always best to choose the waves you want to surf rather than have them choose you. It is also never good to live in a vacuum or bubble. You must fight your natural inclination to become more conservative with time and only seek out self-validating perspectives. As the saying goes, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
I encourage you to broaden your perspective and worldview by speaking with others who think differently than you, especially people who are younger or from other cultures and/or socio-economic backgrounds. Instead of resenting or belittling them for their opinions, try to understand where they are coming from. Seek out media and other information sources that challenge your sense of conventional wisdom. Strive to learn more about the world rather than focusing most of your energy on your own backyard. Experiment with innovative technologies. Make it a priority to be ahead of the curve and what’s happening rather than becoming a victim of circumstance. Once we stop learning and adapting, we begin to decay and expedite our irrelevance.
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