Kyle
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~~~~~ Trust Beyond See ~~~~~ "One light will tear apart the night"
Posts: 204
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Post by Kyle on Dec 4, 2007 1:53:53 GMT -5
Wheeee: "When you are aware and accept that everything around you is constantly changing, and that you have no control over 99.99% of it, you are able to embrace change like a close friend! Change is a like a river, constantly flowing and moving things around. The river of life is constantly bringing you ideas, people, situations - each one is an opportunity to be enriched or to enrich others, to grow and to learn. Change is the play of the universe as it entertains us in the biggest light-and-sound show of all time. Why fight it? Why not sit back and enjoy the show?" Source: www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk
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Post by Oliveman on Dec 15, 2007 4:56:54 GMT -5
Ok, since this seems like a fairly acceptable and nice idea... let's attack it for a minute >: )
Whenever someone says "Why fight it?" for anything, I will almost automatically object, and my argument follows from this.
Sure, things change, and we should be able to adapt to it, but to believe this is to surrender what control we have. 99.99%?? Are they nuts? It's not measurable. Change is not a purely positive force, nor is it an unstoppable force, and nor is it an ever-present force. We do not need to surrender ourselves to change. All we have to do is be able to make room enough in our lives for both change and ourselves.
If we gave up ourselves, wouldn't we just be a slave to change? "The biggest light-and-sound show of all time" couldn't grant us entertainment, for there wouldn't be room enough for ourselves to react to it.
I know that the above quote is speaking up against those who force themselves into a hole of changelessness, or those who, you know, wail in agony when they must face change. But those people are few and far between, and in looking to the danger of an attitude toward change, the writers of the above comment have ignored the dangers of change itself.
All I'm saying is that our lives are caught up in this mess, and we must face change with courage, and not with complacence.
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Kyle
Full Member
~~~~~ Trust Beyond See ~~~~~ "One light will tear apart the night"
Posts: 204
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Post by Kyle on Dec 15, 2007 8:42:49 GMT -5
*just.... smiles* I am amazed at how defensive you get about anything that questions your free will.
You sound as bad as those professors who say, "What the author meant was..."
This advice is for everyone, maybe Oliver more than anyone else. Change really is an amazing thing. "Why fight it?" is a good point--engage it. Of course, this goes back to the post on defending yourself...
If anyone's read the Wheel of Time series, this reminds me a lot of the way women channeled.
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Post by Oliveman on Dec 19, 2007 5:28:51 GMT -5
All I'm saying is:
|------Life------|-----Change----| Not |-------------Forceful Hold on Life-------------|-chng-| Or |-L-|-------Flowing with the change-----------|
Of course, the other effect of the acceptance of change your quotation promotes.... is the ability to be at peace with the world and how it changes around us, which I'd say is good. But to remain that "Trasparent Eyeball" (to quote Emerson) throughout all things in life is impossible. To do that would be just as forceful as its opposite action.
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cathconns
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Professional Threadkiller
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Post by cathconns on Dec 22, 2007 22:05:27 GMT -5
The main negative aspect of the "why fight it?" argument is that it carries a passive connotation. It would be like sitting back and waiting for change to come to you, then just letting it take you wherever. A better way to phrase it would be "change: make it and embrace it". It's better to go out and change things for the better than wait for change to happen to you. Also, instead of change directing your actions, allow your actions to direct change to your advantage.
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