Is Change Worth Dying For?
When we were born, we were given a name. As we learned to walk, we also learned about customs, culture, and tradition. Customs; what are good and bad behaviors. Culture; what shows are for kids and what are for adults. Traditions; when to go to bed and when to wake up. As we went to school, we learned to make friends and about their customs, cultures, and traditions, mixed in with the academic curriculum required for graduation. After graduation, or whenever we turn 18, we have a complete identity based on how we were raised. The next chapter into young adulthood required us to reinvent ourselves or remain the same, content with stagnation and never challenging ourselves to take the leap of faith into the death of our ego.
There is an episode on the Netflix series, “Planet Earth” where there are eagles that hatch in nests high on the cliff, away from predators. The mother would fly miles for food to bring back to her baby, but once they’re too big for the nest they must jump from the heights of the cliff to the very bottom and risk painful injury, or death, to enter the next chapter of their lives.
The only constant is change and change requires a leap of faith that might leave bruises, broken bones, or death. If one is not willing to change, they’re at greater risk of the slow death of starvation from the abundance of opportunities that are out there.
What does change look like? How often should we change? Why does change matter?
Consider your friends, family, and your workplace. Is the current climate of your surroundings big enough to hold your current dreams, goals, and ideas? If the answer is no, then what should these people and places look like? Are your friends as driven as you are? Should the family you hang around be supportive? How does your place of work contribute to the journey to reach your goals? Once we have an idea of how things should be, the next step is to survey the field for how to make this idea possible and to make goals on where to land and meet these people.
Change is inevitable, and the only control we have over time is how we use it and who we spend it with. The leap will require death in spending time with people who do not support our newfound dreams, goals, and ideas. Some of us even come from a hateful lineage of ideologies that we have since corrected in ourselves but are powerless in correcting others who are stuck in the nest of stagnation.
As often as the sunrise, we should reevaluate our current circumstances and dig deep for the truth about ourselves and what can be improved. Who we were yesterday can’t be the same as who we are today and who we are today must be changed to become the person we wish to be tomorrow. This means that the habits that the customs, culture, and traditions that no longer serve us must die to make room for a greater self to emerge.
Why does this matter? Like how the wings of an eagle steer the bird in its desired direction, we must take charge of our time by choosing the direction it flows.
There will be storms, there will be lightning, thunder, and rain. Depending on the strength of the eagle, it can soar above the clouds and even manage the turbulence of the wind on its way, but it didn’t gain this ability by staying in its nest and waiting for the next meal from its mother.
Change requires a leap of faith that isn’t for the faint of heart. There is an abundance of opportunity out there, we just have to decide if the required change is worth dying for.
