DAY 61 – KEY ASPECT: CONSTANTLY ADJUSTING TO LIFE
I am driving on a highway on my way home after work. With eight miles to go before the exit I usually take I see the cars ahead of me begin to slow down until they come to a standstill. As we slowly creep forward I know there is an exit about a mile ahead that will take me to a road that will be without traffic. While this path home is a little longer in mileage it is much better than creeping along on a congested roadway.
Life itself is similar to altering what roads you take when you are in a traffic jam. All of us have things we do in a certain manner and most of the time we live our lives in our normal routines. On the other hand, situations develop that alters our ability to do what we want to do, how we go about doing it and if and when we can do it. The ramifications of adjusting or not adjusting to how life is at any given moment in time, especially for the most important things in one’s life, can be profound.
Look at how life on a personal level has a way of changing. When a parent takes a new job and the family has to move to a different city children do not want to leave their friends and the life that they have known. A person may believe everything is going well in their romantic relationship until the other person decides to end it. An illness can disrupt a person’s ability to be self-sufficient. Holding a job for decades may be lost because of a downturn in the company’s business. When life is turning out as you want it to human beings have the ability to handle life in a level headed manner but when unwanted and unexpected changes occur people often do not adequately and rationally deal with unsettling situations that come their way.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century technology has been changing how we live our lives. The horse and buggy has been replaced by automobiles. Going to a movie theater to see the news on a screen was replaced by a television in your home and today we can find information about any subject we want to know about via the internet. The new often displaces and permanently makes the old an antiquated entity.
Human beings are healthier and living longer lives today than ever before. The genome project has given those who want to understand the human body the ability to look deeper into our cells in order to find out how they function. With more knowledge about the human body humanity is in the midst of having to adjust itself not only to healthier living but also to much longer lifespans.
Computer technology has also changed how we manufacture, purchase and distribute products. Because of automation in our manufacturing facilities we need fewer human beings to produce the products we need and use. In the past everything human beings bought had to be done in person but it is now simpler and easier for people to shop and order things online. Self driving cars and drones are in its beginning stages of development and may someday be the preferred way of moving from one locale to another and how society distributes most of the things we want.
No matter whether change occurs slowly or is sudden and swift some people find it hard to adapt to the new. Their thoughts and behaviors have become ingrained and like any habit the new is antithesis to the old. This is why people have difficulty embracing change even when they want something different.
So many people are psychologically and emotionally tied to the ways they have been living life. They feel comfortable and at ease with their personal lives and the world at large that they are used to. When a person’s job has become obsolete because of newer technology that changes what we do and how we do it they cannot be objective and understand how humanity is in a constant search for newer and better ways of producing our products. When a relationship has many arguments and disputes many people would rather continue with that type of a relationship than have it end. When it can be shown how certain aspects of the way we conduct human affairs have a negative societal consequence some ignore the evidence because it would require changing how we go about living our lives in favor of something new and different.
A steadfastness to the old just keeps individuals and society stuck in their own roadblock. They cannot escape decades of silent words that they adhere to. For many to change, especially those who are older, it requires a prolonged gestation period before they can replace an old norm with a new belief system or a new behavioral pattern. The young have an easier time accepting and adapting to new ideas about life and new ways of conducting human affairs because they are not held down by habits of thought and behaviors that are fully ingrained within them compared to those who are older.
As I am driving on this alternate roadway I now realize that life cannot adjust itself to how I think and act but I have to adjust myself to what is occurring in the world. Becoming upset and distraught with something that is not my norm or the norm of society does not serve my best interests or society’s interests. I will find more calmness, peacefulness and inner harmony along with an ability to adequately deal with what comes my way when I can psychologically adjust myself to the new and different.