Author: IdeasInHat. I like to write stuff, you like to read stuff; so, we’ll probably get along. 😂🤣😅
Abstract
Life is cyclic. Our daily routines and habits are circular; we repeat each throughout the days of the week, the weeks of the year, and the years of our life. But does life change? Yes. Life changes, and there are 3 ways how people respond to change. We can resist, ignore, or participate in the changes of life. Which we choose is up to us, but life indeed changes; and so, choose we must.
Words: 867 – Reading Time: 3:09 – Sentences: 46 – Paragraphs: 23 – Reading level: 12th;
Table Of Contents
- Is Life A Line Or A Circle?
3 Ways How People Respond To Change
- Life Is A Threesome
- People Who Resist Change
- People Who Participate
- People Who Ignore Change
- Life Comes Our Way
Is Life Change?
Is Life A Line Or A Circle?
Like the leafs of a tree as the season of autumn dawns upon us, life changes. From sunrise to sundown, from breakfast to dinner, or from birth to death, life be forever in motion. Life sometimes ventures off course, whimsically following each path stumbled upon; and life sometimes repeats, diligently following a daily, weekly, or monthly routine. Life can be as random as the path of a rock stumbling down a hillside, or as repetitive as a cycle of laundry on a Sundays afternoon. Living is either a line or a circle.
But whether life be a line or circle seldom depends on our percepts; despite the apparent cycles which characterize life, like when our eyes first open to the early morning sun and then close upon the embrace of the radiant and dazzling nighttime stars, an omnipresent line is nevertheless proliferated throughout: a start and end point to which all cycles glide along in one direction.
Put otherwise, even though life reveals herself as cyclic, she nevertheless walks a line. How we awake and fall asleep while in old age, in contrast to our youth, markedly differs. With age comes the inability to spryly leap from beneath the sheets each morning and tackle headstrong the day. And although age has no determinant impact on the tenacity or vigor of our spirit, age-related restrictions nonetheless force upon us a diminishment of ability. We cannot carry furthermore the habits and behaviours of our youth. That is, much unlike our former selves, we must retreat beneath the sheets of our beds at an hour much earlier, to recuperate from the long-days battle. And seldom do we pursue endlessly, so as to obviate sleep, the limitless bounds of our ambitions, as we once did in our youth. Hence, irrespective of the life’s cyclic nature, she is prodded forward along a line.
And thereupon our conclusion is reached. Life is a cycle which changes overtime; we grow old, we adopt different beliefs, and experience new lifestyles. Regardless of perceived stability and stagnation, of which arises from repetition in routine and habit, we are constantly changing; we cannot remain motionless.
Given we now know life is change, further insight can be garnished from that simple fact: namely, how do people respond to change?
3 Ways How People Respond To Change
Life Is A Threesome
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. – Leo Tolstoy
In life, there are 3 ways how people respond to change: resist, ignore, or participate.
People Who Resist Change
The resistant people respond to change by revolting. Like an immunological response to some infection, the resistant people will admonish or berate those who welcome or encourage change. Always defensive, the resistant ensure the stability and stagnation of the current situation or conditions. In other words, they believe people change for the worse.
Furthermore, people resistant to change are actively so; never will they passively withdraw from society like a hermit. In similar fashion to the participant, the resistant person will be proactive about their quarrels with change. Though people change, the resistant won’t; though cultures change, the resistant won’t; though circumstances change, the resistant won’t. Instead, the resistant will rebel against any and all change.
People Who Participate In Change
Another way people respond to change is to participate. The participant is, much like an optimist, enthused about change. They want people to change, culture to change, and society to change. Like blind optimism, all change is encouraged. Participants seldom show skepticism towards their own beliefs and have an overly positive view of the future.
Moreover, the participant is incredibly active in their response to change. As the label suggests, they are heavily involved in the changes of life. Whether it is a scientific break through, one which will alter the biological make-up of humanity, or a cultural movement that will change the values and ethics of society, the participant is most involved in the change.
People Who Ignore Change
The last way how people respond to change is really a lack of response. The person who ignores change, like a nihilist or apathetic person, has neither rejected or accepted the changes which have occurred. They have an indifference to all of life.
As life unfolds before them, like a red velvet carpet, they are more interested in the gum on the bottom of their shoe. The beautiful changes which take place before their eyes have little to no impact upon their being; they are like monks that have reached a state of constant meditative silence. People who ignore change are passive by-standers of life, being dragged along by the wrest of society.
Why People Change
Life Comes Our Way
People change because they have to. Regardless of the response we have towards change, we will change. The person who resists change has gone from homeostasis to proactive defense; the person who seeks change has become an active participant in the world; and the person who ignores change has been impacted, indirectly so. The never-ending progression of life forces upon us some change. So, people change because they have to.
