The Art of Change
We don't change. I imagine such a statement could find a lot of opinionated opposition if it implied a lack of growth, whether that be on a knowledgeable level, a logical or spiritual one, but in this case we refer to ourselves and who we are in relation to who we were when we decided to grace this world with our presence.
One of the main beliefs in spiritualism is that we are more than we appear to be and that dreams and behaviours of our childhood were shaped by something much more deeper than a logic sequence of events and the power of suggestion adults had on us.
Those conclusions seem to be supported on a logical level by one simple point: what we wanted to be as children seem to re-surface in the last few moments of our lives, working like some sort of parameters within which we will define our life as been worthwhile or not.
Our life will be judged primarily by how much we feel we've accomplished of what really and deeply mattered to us, nothing less, nothing more than what we truly expected from ourselves, without any chance of cheating or lying, let alone pretending.
So, we don't change. We simply forget, willingly and we decide to adapt to people and circumstances instead, with the subconscious knowledge that most of the time they will be far beneath our true worth or value, not because that is true, but simply because they've fallen into the same powerless illusion.
There are many reasons for this: the fear to step up and improve our life while leaving behind someone we love that is heading in another direction is one, or dealing with difficulties and pain while striving to achieve our best it's another, counter balanced by it's opposite which sees us settling for something less problematic and much more comfortable and secure within the boundaries that we know so well, after all better the devil you know than the one you don't.
Therefore we end up forgetting our dreams and our "what ifs" and abandoning ourselves to self-made justifications, self-pity and, ultimately, denial, maybe hoping in a providential rescue or in the power of a quick-fix in every day materialism.
It seems strange then, that we need that vital process we identify as "change", and that we use on a subconscious yet logical level, to take us back, so that at the end of the natural evolution of the process we can remember that we were simply on a journey back home to our true self.A journey without soul will never be a journey within, hence the need to drive down roads less travelled, through choices and decisions that need to bring out the best in us.
Those roads toward what may look like a materialistic hell can reveal themselves as our saviours in the long run, and only when we get the courage to look down their paths far enough, we discover that the light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter than anything else experienced before.
In time of adversity, egoistical measures tell us to cry for ourselves while the spirit within secretly rejoices for a brand new opportunity, another important call home.
There is no spirituality where we don't want to look, so problems and the change they bring with them have the specific purpose of coming into being for the only reason of giving us another chance, a gift we definitely should not ignore.
We look for peace in our minds and souls and yet we hope to find it in mediocre life styles, shying away from the responsibility each and every choice brings, little we know that compromising our core principles is to deny our peace to come forth, for denying our souls their full expression is to deny a part of ourselves, whether we like it or not, whether we understand it or not.
To hinder, to avoid to express is to hide what is true to us and nothing can ever move us toward internal peace and prosperity if the first step toward re-discovery is never made. Steps can be hard at times, but as we learn to walk, then we can learn to fly, so we can also handle the struggle to improve our own life, if we want it badly enough.
Choice is an option that starts with a simple decision: to be or not to be, to do or not to do. Whatever we choose will determine the quality of life we will eventually end up living, and, if we really have to stay here for a while, what's the point of living a boring existence that we will regret anyway ? Why not grab life with both hands and make of every single choice an art form, modelling our present the way we want it so that it will shape our future the closest to the way we truly see it?
We should always remember that fear of being or of trying is based merely on a representation in our mind of a given situation. It does not represent reality, as reality is always relative to one's point of view. Change in itself is inevitable, we don't have a choice, but the way we change is open to our own free interpretation and if we apply will power and quality to our decision making strategy, no one will be able to judge us, nor stop us.
We change because we choose or because we've been chosen. Either way deep down we win, if we choose so. We just have to decide to make of change a daily necessity that will take us forward while, ironically, looking for something backward, reaching full circle only when we will consciously be at peace with the child within us.
God chose the race we have to run, but ultimately, we get to choose the direction.
Luca Del Bianco is a songwriter and producer currently working on an album that will take him touring around the best clubs in United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy in the autumn 2005. In his spare time he concentrates his efforts on philosophy, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic- Programming) and spiritual readings. From here the neccessity to write a series of articles about his spiritual journey and the logical process of it.