If change is inevitable, as the greatest thinkers in history have claimed, does this mean that nothing stays the same? I decided to see for myself, armed only with my innate sense of curiosity and willingness to look. Off I went, carefully side-stepping the thickets of significance that had trapped so countless other serious thinkers.
As a long-time autodidact, I figured I could observe and least find out what was true for me. Well, it didn’t take that long to understand that absolutes don’t exist in this universe. In fact, the only absolute truth I could find was the idea that “nothing is absolute.” (smile)
This lead to an “ah ha” moment. If everything in the physical universe was in the process of changing, rapidly or incredibly slowly but changing nonetheless, then nothing was staying the same.
All forms of life, all physical things, all conditions of existence were either expanding, or they were decaying. Change was happening, whether incredibly slow or uncomfortably fast, the process of change was always taking place nonetheless.
From where I sit, this fits the definition of a natural law, as follows:
A natural law is the incremental acquisition of knowledge gained through direct observation which aligns other observations and allows a prediction of consequences without reliance on trust, belief systems, or opinions.
In and of itself, this realization opened the door to a new way of thinking about things, a way that made sense:
Conditions can (and will) change. Consequently, if I was unhappy with the direction or condition of my life, it wasn’t a life sentence. The change was not only possible but, inevitable.
This was a tectonic shift in my attitude about life! So I started to re-evaluate decisions I’d made and considerations I’d had about my life and myself.
I started wondering: Who or what was creating the conditions or circumstances of my existence right now? Was I seeking to place the blame on others to justify my actions inactions and make failing easier to live with?”
I had to look no further than the mirror to find the answer.
As humbling as it is, I admit that there is no one else to blame. There are no other reasons to explain failures I’ve had. It’s not, “I ran into obstacles that stopped me.” Instead, it’s “What obstacles did I create to explain why I gave up?”
I created the condition my life is in now, for better or for worse. The responsibility is mine alone.
Yes, there are others who have helped, but it was me who opened the doors or kept them shut. And yes, there are others also who have acted to hinder or slow my growth, but for them to have had any negative effect on me required my agreement with what they were doing.
First of all, I had to decide that something was harmful or painful for it to have any effect on me whatsoever. I am where I am today because of decisions I made in the past, either my own, or by going into agreement with decisions and considerations of others.
I only have to look at my life today to see what decisions I made in the past that created my life today. And to predict my future, I only have to look at what I am creating today.
The future is, after all, just present time with another date on it, isn’t it? If I accept and can see that statement as true, then what I’m thinking about, envisioning, deciding, or considering now, is my future. It’s not that my future “will be” or “might be.” There is no maybe about it. It just is what I create today.
There are no limitations, diversions, stops or slows except those I create for myself.
The future is now.
Daniel Jacobs, 2015
(c) 10 April 2015
METAYA 