Thrive on Change

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. — LaoZi

Would you like to thrive on change?How are you doing at this moment? Don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow. Think about these ever-flowing present moments. Are you okay? For years, I would greet my students with a typical American — “How’s it goin’?” They would look at me and smile, not certain how to answer. How (positive or negative) is it (Life) going (changing) in the here/now? Reality is change. We cannot resist change any more than we could stop time from flowing. To thrive on change — you first must accept it.

When discussing change, great thinkers (myself not included :-) have often quoted the ancient Greeks such as Plato, who wrote “Heraclitus, I believe, says that all things pass and nothing stays. Comparing existing things to the flow of a river, he says you could not step twice into the same river.” To thrive on change realize that all things pass, No matter the hardship or anxiety it will pass. Perhaps the change will be gradual. Little by little your thinking will change and the world around is made anew. Dive right in and move ahead with this positive current. Embrace and dance with the changes that come. Manifest the positive changes.

But so much of life is made of little changes. Tiny little shifts in the winds of fortune arrive and sweep away the dead leaves of worry or tickles our noses with the sweet scent of simple joys. To effortlessly accept the reality of the present is true living. Life flourishes when things are allowed to flow naturally forward. Rest in stillness. Soak in today like a newly opened flower at dawn. Bask in the warmth of the all-encompassing loving universe. Don’t fret about unmoved mountains and unobtainable glories. Celebrate the person you are right now. Imagine the changes you want to see in your world. Manifest those changes into your life.

Zhuangzi was a Taoist Master. Several officials from the king once offered him a high position in the imperial court. Zhuangzi, always the storyteller said: “I understand the kingdom has a sacred turtle, which has been dead for three thousand years. The king keeps it in a fine cloth, and it is boxed and stored in his ancestral temple. Now, would this turtle prefer to be dead and have its bones preserved and honored? Or would the turtle prefer to be alive with its tail dragging in the mud?”

The officials answered, “Alive with its tail dragging in the mud.”

“Go away then.” Zhaungzi said, “I prefer to drag my tail in the mud.”

To thrive on change, follow your true nature; learn from great stories. And drag your tail in the mud. Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness. — Zhuangzi