Showing posts with label Change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Change. Show all posts

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Quotes from Heraclitus

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Reading my earlier post on Change, one of my good friends with whom I used to work some five years ago introduced me to Heraclitus. Heraclitus(535BC - 475BC) a Greek philosopher, known for his doctrine of change being central to the universe.

I found his quotes greatly though provoking, and I am really amazed by the relevance of each and every word said even now at present. Here are some of them,

The one I liked the most is:
Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
The one my friend liked the most is:
If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trial. If we do not expect the unexpected, we will never find it.
And some of them are:
Character is destiny.
Nothing endures but change.
This universe, which is the same for all, has not been made by any god or man, but it always has been, is, and will be an ever-living fire, kindling itself by regular measures and going out by regular measures.
You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
The road up and the road down is one and the same.
Even sleepers are workers and collaborators on what goes on in the universe.
Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Change is the only changeless

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Every time I think about some change....I always remember 2 famous quotes I've come across. First one is "Everything changes, only change is changeless" don't know who said this and the second one from Mahatma Gandhiji "Be the change you want to be". Many a times we tend to bend and mend others into our own ways. Trying to change others always ends up in vain and leads to a lot of pain and displeasure. We are not comfortable in changing ourselves as there is a lot of risks involved in that, mainly stepping from the known to an unknown is always fearful, scary, and anxious.

Let's think for a moment how important is "change" in our lives. Neither sorrow, nor happiness is going to be permanent in life. Anything and everything in this world has to undergo the process of evolution and hence change is inevitable. If at all change has not happened, this world would have reached a state of stagnation and no progress would have happened all through these years. In spite of seeing so many changes every day in this world, we are still skeptical about change.

Change at first frightens us, as we have to come out of our comfort zone. and then the fear of uncertainties that would show up. Any change that has to happen outside is most of the times pretty easy, where as any change that has to happen within us is the most difficult thing to happen. But the beauty is when a moment had come for an internal change within ourselves, nothing can stop that. Once we are fully convinced about the change, our mind automatically lookout for ways and means for the change to happen rightaway. To reach that state is the most difficult task in life, as our mind will always put forth number of excuses in the name of valid reasons so as to oppose the change. Once we gain the ability to understand the trick that our mind would play, it will be lot easier to appreciate and embrace the change.


Some of the statements I hear when a change is imposed from outside are:

1. It's too difficult.
2. It's not gonna work.
3. We've tried this before or we've never tried something similar.
4. This too visionary or lacks vision.
5. We've always done it this way.
6. We already have a proven method in place.
7. I am not sure, if this will be good for us.
8. I don't think this is logical.
9. We don't have enough time and resources.
10. It just doesn't make sense to change.
11. ... and many more.

Some of the statements I hear when a change is embraced within are:

1. Wow....it's an excellent change.
2. I am sure its gonna to be good for us.
3. We are bored of doing it the same way.
4. We should try something new.
5. This is the right moment for change.
6. To change is for a greater vision.
7. We should take a chance.
8. Let's try it out.
9. We should explore new avenues.
10. It's challenging to experiment.
11. ... and many more.

As we noticed, it's all the mind's smart play. All these statements are more subjective to the individual and his/her perception towards the change. We come up with any of the first set of statements if we are forced to change and we bring forth the second set of statements in case we are fully convinced that the change is essential at that point of time. We always see these two different groups of people in this society and I am not here to say which is good or which is good to be in.

All I can say from my little experience, is if we are a person who would take some time to think with a larger perspective before jumping into conclusions we would always belong into the second group. It does not mean that we should happily accept and appreciate all the changes that's happening, instead we should have the ability to discriminate the good and bad, not based on our own personal likes and dislike, but purely from a holistic point of view.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam