Change is the Only Real Thing

Change is the only real thing. That’s a bold statement. It doesn’t mean that everything that was true today won’t be true tomorrow, but it’s just the nature of things to pass away and shift. This message hit me during Madeline Klyne’s meditation class, Fathomless Treasures: Aging, Sickness, and Death. The practice group and instructions helped me notice impermanence in my everyday life. “Don’t take my word for it,” Madeline said. “Can you find anything that lasts forever?” Exploring daily, I could find nothing. 

Making peace with the notion that everything dies does not sadden me. It actually releases me to love in the moment, to cherish what is happening right now. While the reality of death promises that things I am attached to will go away, it simultaneously guarantees that whatever pain I am holding will also transform. Holding life with less grip brings air to the spark that brings fire and rebirth.

The idea that everything changes also supports the possibility that whatever aspects of society we inherited which are no longer useful are of the nature to change. It is the clinging to old ways, in the absence of noticing relevant natural adaptations that want to plant, that perpetuates harmful patterns.

For example, given what we know about the negative impact of late-stage capitalism on people and the planet, we can see change is underway. Without any intervention, natural disaster and political instability will stop people from expanding exploitive markets. It may take the end of human life on the planet for that change to conclude. But we have power, when we see a promising trend, to apply effort and support that accelerates change, guiding it in a direction aligned with our desires, values, and collective prosperity.

Embracing change as our nature is an antidote to our suffering, and an accelerator for the world we want to create. That’s why I always remind myself, in the bliss and the baggage, change is the only real thing. 

Listen to Life Radio and subscribe where you get your podcasts! This quote comes from episode 2, Not Knowing. Life Radio is a collaboration with Lawrence Barriner II and Maureen White. The show is collective reflection on modern life.