E/Affecting Changes

If there is one thing which is so very peculiar to the human race is that it is never contended with the way things are. Unlike most other primates, the human beings are constantly in search of change; everything that is new becomes out of date (or out of style, as is in vogue today)within no time; if one looks at the fashion world, we would be puzzled to realize that even before a fashion commodity reaches the market, it is declared out of fashion. Things are changing at break-neck speed, and it is quite impossible to keep pace with them. But the moot question is: should we keep pace with changes and adapt ourselves ever so often?

New Year celebrations bring along a bagful of promises to change; we want changes to take place as the clock strikes 12 on the new year eve. It is as if we all have the Alladin's magic lamp, which can change and transform us at the fraction of a second! We all wish to hear the whisper of the genie, Your wish is my command! We hear a thousand and one promises for change that people assure us of: giving up smoking, drinks, some vital bad habits! There are also others who promise positive things - to call up parents at least once a week, to do household chores with the wife, etc. But how long do the changes work?

Unfortunately changes as we desire do not take place; even before we take note of what we had promised, we had broken the promises, and we are back to square one. We see ourselves just as we were before the new year! We often fail to ask ourselves this simple question: can a new year (which by the way, is just an imaginary concept) change the way how we relate to people, behave, and act in our personal and social lives? Are we not asking for too much from a concept, which is just incapable of ushing in changes in us? But then, are changes impossible in our lives? Can't we break out of our unhealthy habits and soar to newer heights?

Of course it is possible, and there is a simple way to do that! Paradoxically, the more we try to change ourselves, the more we fail, and therefore in order to change something in ous, the best thing to do is to become conscious of what we want to change, and stop at that. That is where the trick is: to stop with becoming conscious of what we want to change; if we force ourselves to change, then it would end up in a disaster. One may ask, then how will a change take place? The universe will take care of it; our body-mind-spirit will take care of the change that is to be effected. Mind you, the change that will take place will not be dramatic, nor spectacular, but would be lasting.

There is a simple way to test this theory: look at the lasting changes which have taken place in ourselves, and we would notice that these changes took place without our realization. Look at the way trees and plants grow; the change or transformation is imperceptible to our naked eyes, and yet it is real and lasting. We need to trust in the transformative power of the universe and the body-mind-spirit complex, because there is nothing which is beyond the power of these two vital poles which determine what we are! We might call them the divine powers, because they have so much of creative potentiality, if only we surrender to be moulded and shaped! To be transformed and be changed!