Students of change

George Barna, a leading researcher, author and sociologist, said in his book Futurecast, “There are three kinds of people when it comes to the future: those who watch what happens, those who will make it happen, and those who wondered what happened.” I think that we all fit into each category at different times in our lives. I am attempting to live most of my life in the second category.

An ancient Proverb tells us that “change is the only constant” (ThinkExist.com). I find the fact that the ancients were dealing with the same challenge of change comforting. Anthony J D’Angelo, writing in The College Blue Book, provides a post-modern twist to the Proverb: he said, “Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant.”

That statement sums up the tension most of us live with every day. I struggle with change as much as the next guy. In a world where information is doubling every two years, grasping the nuances and shifts occurring all around has become a massive psychological and emotional undertaking. I can understand why the retro movement – going back to nature, simplifying life, and downsizing – is gaining traction in our society.

My personality, according to the insights of the DISC profile, describes me as one who welcomes change but in small increments. My political inclination is “big C” conservative. My religious upbringing taught me to be cautious of change. Change is going to happen, but we all know that not all change is positive. It must be discerned and weighed because even changes for the better are accompanied with drawbacks and discomforts.

Winston Churchill stated, “There is nothing wrong with change, if is in the right direction.” Therein lays the snag. Who determines whether or not a change is “in the right direction?” Politicians? Supreme Court Justices? Educators? Entertainers? Ministers? Sub-culture organizations?

If the grid for determining changes and whether they are beneficial to society or not is based upon opinion, we are in trouble. Everyone – especially in this generation – has an opinion, and some groups have been very effective in amassing influence and dominating the majority with a minority opinion.

We are all handicapped by inexperience when it comes to evaluating the impact of change. None of us have the luxury to know whether or not change adopted today will be ultimately beneficial five years from now based upon opinion. We have to be able to look inside ourselves as well as back to the lessons of history to be able to look forward. We need context. We need more than polls. We need a moral grid to be able to assess impact.

I know that if we do not define and determine change, change will define and create us. Whether we like it or not, change welcomed by a group of people builds a critical mass of influence on the rest of us – what some call peer pressure – and “the many” become controlled by the changes that “the few” adopt.

One Proverb states: “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” Change needs to be challenged before it is chosen. If we are not careful and circumspect about the changes being proposed for the culture we live in, we will soon join the ranks of the irrelevant and walk with those who wonder what happened rather than those who make things happen.

Maria Robinson said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” We cannot change the past, but we can keep our heads up about the now, and start today on creating a new ending.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.