Wings of Change

Time passes and our lives move through the inevitable changes. Changes that we are unaware of, changes for which we are unprepared, changes that are so unfamiliar to us that when they arrive we do not know whether what we feel is excitement or fear.

The origins of "change" date back to 1225, from the Old French word "changier" meaning "to exchange, barter". In essence then, change means trading one thing for another. If we replace something old with something new, or something familiar with something different...where do the old and different go? Do they disappear forever? For example, a caterpillar once transformed into butterfly can never go back to being a caterpillar. A caterpillar on the first day of adulthood wakes from its shell with wings and instincts that guide it through the changes of habitat and behavior. The butterfly does not fear its new wings, it adapts because it has no other choice.

In human beings, however, change is a more complex thing. It can move over us like a cloud that covers the ocean, like an unexpected storm that blinds us from the path ahead, leaving us unable to navigate. When the path isn't visible, we fear we may get lost. And getting lost means running the chance of landing somewhere foreign and unknown. That kind of fear makes change incredibly difficult for the human being.

Nevertheless, change is inevitable. From the moment we are born, we change, our bodies change, our minds evolve, it never ceases until the day we die. And interestingly enough, unlike other animals, we can control our habitat and behavior. We can choose to change what we want to change but often we just don't know what we need to change.