The Importance of Change

Change. It can be scary, it can be exciting, but most of all it can be rewarding.  It is scary because we don't always know what will happen next. We come to enjoy the way things currently are and fear that they might not ever be the same. It is exciting because we might see this change to be a good one, one that will make the future better. Now how can it be rewarding? My answer for this isn't quite as short as it was for the preceding two. I think change to be rewarding for many reasons. Change can be a catalyst for gaining experience, new perspectives, and an over all growth towards a more enlightened self.

How can something as simple as a small change help us gain experience? Simple. When we try new things (like poetry... or tofu!) we further our knowledge for those tried things. With this new knowledge we can now explain to others about our experience. I believe this to be important because people are always looking to one another for advice. The more experience we have in life and in miscellaneous ventures, the more well rounded advice we can give. This point can also be used to iterate the worth of traveling! When traveling we are imersed into new cultures, new people, and new ideas. My past two summers have been spent at "The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center". After arriving home from my first summer, people couldn't help to notice that I had changed, and I don't blame them because I certainly had. At first I thought this to be negative, that I was straying away from who I was. This was incorrect. I wasn't straying away from who I was, but who I was had changed. Upon returning I now had a new set of eyes to see the world in which I lived in, I had a new perspective.

Having different perspectives can help us piece together the whole truth. Since we all come from different backgrounds, upbringings, and have had different experiences, it only makes sense that we will differ in beliefs, likings, and which brand of water tastes best. I believe the key to start viewing life from a fresh angle is to change things up. We aren't ever going to be a dynamic person if we constantly put on our horse blind and restrict our views from broadening. I'm not saying to accept everything. I'm saying for us all to see everything for what it truly is, not just taking other peoples words. The only way to see all these things is to go out and try them for our selves. We mustn't be static, in other words, we must constantly be looking to see what changes we can make. After we start to accumulate many perspectives, we just might catch a glimpse of the whole picture.

Once we see the whole picture, there is no going back. I encourage all to do things they wouldn't normally do, to read books that you don't agree with, and to talk with people you normally would dismiss. Accompanying these actions will be growth, thus a more enlightened self. If we all achieve this level of insight I think we will stop caring about the minute differences between us. Once this takes place we can start focusing on what actually matters, that is: to love each other, care for each other, and begin the process of putting this world back together.