Change

Water has many forms and many changes. Picture a single drop that falls from the sky or that drips from a tap. Then see it next as it flows to join a small river making it to a large lake or deep reservoir. From here spilling out into the sea or the mighty ocean.  Travelling now perhaps to become part of a glacier that in turn may have broken off from a huge ice shelf mass made of solid sheets of ice that were formed by single flakes of snow which started off as tiny molecules of moisture…Yet water is still water and its qualities although changing are still the same…

We are like this…starting off as tiny molecules and then growing into bodies in the womb. Eventually emerging as individuals. We keep growing and developing both physically and emotionally until the moment that we do not. Can we then accept that there can be no life without change?

When researching this theme I came across a young man called Marco Marsans in a TED talk who talked of embracing change and how it is an inseparable part of nature. He maintained that even though as a species we have evolved over time yet as humans we are often reluctant and unwilling to accept change in our lives. Indeed change can trigger chemicals in our brain that can lead to our flight or fight responses. Understanding change, having gratitude for what we have experienced, and choosing how to respond to change were his three pillars of wisdom for managing the challenges we face to the status quo we know. He spoke on a personal level of having had to adapt to different countries, cultures, and circumstances as he grew up and the way he responded so positively was a great example of successful management of change.

I also discovered a political activist and strategist called Tom Rivett-Carnac. He spoke from a global perspective as a member of the United Nations. Focusing on adopting a mindset of "stubborn optimism" specifically in the context of confronting climate change but equally applicable for whatever crisis may come our way.  He urged action was needed to build a regenerative future as well as the stubbornly optimistic mindset. As he puts it: "Stubborn optimism can fill our lives with meaning and purpose.” When it comes to big life problems, he suggested that we often stand at a crossroads: either believing we are powerless against great change, or we rise to meet the challenge.

This past year of the pandemic has been one of the biggest challenges the world has ever faced and yet we have seen on a global stage so many examples of outstanding courage from so many ordinary individuals. It would be very easy for us to think we can do nothing about the pandemic or even the way the world is changing yet there are many things we can control. We cannot all be like David Attenborough or even Sir Captain Tom Moore who are truly outstanding global citizens galvanising responses from the whole world but each and every one of us can do our bit. We can change our habits and act in a stubbornly optimistic way to refuse negative passivity. Having the vaccine, wearing masks, accepting responsibility for our daily actions and choices for food and waste all have a combined and cumulative impact on the rest of the world. Rather than feel powerless and dread change or even as we come out of the pandemic into a post-pandemic world looking backward to take up old routines why not look forward to embracing the new opportunities and thinking time this last year has given us? Taking up a new mindset and engaging in the change we want to see for our future will help see us move forwards with a clear mind and a joyful heart in our daily life. Just as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Emmeline Pankhurst, Michelle and Barack Obama, Bill and Melinda Gates,  all started out as single individuals yet their actions and legacy have changed our world.

So I would end by asking you this: What challenges are you facing in your life and what will be your first step in overcoming them?

Remember you are more powerful than you think!