There are very few of us that embrace change. We know that it makes people nervous and frustrated. Article after article affirms that. Yet if we’re honest, we will admit it is inevitable. Just why is change so hard?
When I sketched this idea, I observed people about twenty years older than me resisting texting. Nine years later, many of that generation has accepted texting as just another form of communication. Time marches on!
Change is a deceptively difficult thing. We have no problem finding reasons that it is so. Even when everyone agrees changes need to be made, reform is hard. People may disagree on why and how the alterations need to be made. They may even disagree how much and how sweeping a change needs to be. It just isn’t an easy thing!
One of the ways a person can stay young in their thinking is to pursue creative endeavors. I love this quote by Sophia Loren about creativity as a fountain of youth.
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”
This reminds me of a blog post I posted twelve years ago. In it, I commented on another blog post that claimed age is no excuse when it came to creativity. Twelve years later, I am even more convinced of this.
The temptation to believe we know it all and have seen it all makes us older. However, when we consider creative endeavors and begin thinking about how to do things differently, our thoughts can rejuvenate our minds.
When we are faced with a situation that makes us feel stuck, we get impatient and myopic. If we are convinced there is no solution to a problem, then we are prone to give up.
However, if we consider there is a solution to a problem, it frees us. When we use patience and determination to address the issue, creativity can free us from being stuck.
And if we have the audacity to believe there is more than one solution, that enables us to find the best one. Our minds have the capability to do more than we realize.
Patience and Creativity
Have you seen a situation where someone gets flustered easily? We are working on a new system and software at my work. It can be hard to learn something new when the old system has worked for many years.
I have noticed the biggest challenge to learning this, or any new system is having the patience to continue. I have heard, “The old system works fine! Why are we changing it?” But the truth is the old system is clunky and is far less automatic than it should be.
The transition is hard. But change comes whether we adjust or not. Patience and creativity go hand in hand. And when we decide to embrace these qualities, a side benefit is we can see creativity as a fountain of youth.
The world is constantly moving. Even the rocks and mountains ebb and flow. Over time, nothing stays the same. This quote from Heraclitus reminds me everything is in a state of flux.
“All is flux, nothing stays still.”
Heraclitus, from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
So why do we want things the way they used to be? Is that even possible? Even our memories are in changing. Just ask a friend that was at that same event. Rarely do we all get the story straight. We notice something different a friend doesn’t and vice versa.
What we thought was perfect at one time may not have been perfect for someone else. And what is occurring today is going to be someone’s cherished memories. Yes, even in a pandemic, there are those who will have good memories of it in a few years. Does that mean we want to stay there?
Our task is not to find a moment in time we love and freeze it. Today, our task is to embrace this moment, knowing it will change and soon be a memory.
When things change, find a new melody. We can get creative and find a solution. When we do, it may work for today. But tomorrow, the melody may change. And that’s okay! We can sing a new tune tomorrow.
There was some good in the past. Today has some good in it. And my faith convinces me if tomorrow comes, there will be some good there as well. Let’s enjoy the ride for today.
As a result, for technology to be relevant, it must advance. One day, my iPhone will be useless. Unless I keep up, the laptop I’m using today will be a relic tomorrow.
I once did a post on making the best use of technology. I wrote it at about the time the COVID pandemic was in full swing. At the time, I wondered if I would be working remotely and how to handle it. It didn’t happen then but did this week. The virus keeps mutating and we have to adjust. In a sense, technology is like a mutating virus. We either have to adjust or get left behind. Progress is rough, isn’t it?
But if there was no change to face, life would be pretty boring. We need to change and grow or things stagnate. I think of this every time I drive by a neglected farm house. It could be a nice place if someone adjusted and made made improvements long ago. But today, it is rotting away. The house and barn roofs have holes in them. Nobody would want to live there without a total overhaul.
Therefore, we must move on and ditch the BlackBerries. We need to keep growing and adjust to what is coming next. Technology is temporary, much like every other area in life. When we adjust, we grow and improve. But when we resist, we neglect and end up with a bunch of useless junk.
If we learn something valuable, but it doesn’t lead to changes in behavior or tactics, have we really learned it? We can learn interesting facts and trivia. But if the only benefit is that it helps us win trivia games, is it true learning?
True learning goes from the head to the heart. It helps us reconsider previous beliefs. It opens our eyes to new possibilities. True learning takes the humility to reconsider if our previous beliefs still serve us well.
Otherwise, if learning something confirms our previous biases, is it really helpful? It can be threatening to learn something new that changes our outlook and actions. But it can be transforming and effective as well.
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