People say it so much it has become a cliché. “Change is the only constant thing in life!” But if you are like me, that adage will be annoying to you by now. But in fairness to whoever came up with it, there is some truth to it and we will be talking about it today.
Change may be negative or positive but it is very scary and we see this in almost everything we do. The truth is that change is scary for it is uncertain to those who it behoves on and so many tend to avoid and then gradually they find that years down the line they are out of sorts and irrelevant. Throughout history, the fall of great empires, civilizations and even businesses have been down to almost the self-same thing – an aversion to change – which cost them their very existence. Consider the demise of video rental giant, BlockBuster which was about the biggest independent distribution chain in the world. Today Netflix has taken its place.
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At home, consider how Mr Bigg’s has all but disappeared from sight and consciousness and KFC and the Chicken Republic have been the big players in the game. In both cases, complacency and aversion to innovation destroyed these giants, BlockBuster could not see the viability of a future where all content will be mostly online-based. Mr Bigg’s lost touch with the very market it nurtured and now it is nearly extinct.
Change, however, can be a double-edged sword because just as it can be a natural result of time and space, it can be the very recipe for disaster which its agents are in a hurry to effect. Consider the plight of the Soviet Union in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Or the fate of Libya and Somalia since they affected their own revolutions at different points in the past ten to thirty years. Both nations wanted drastic change but could not see that they were not equipped to handle the consequences of those changes. The old Soviet Republics might be stable now but they are still enduring the impact of those turbulent years. The case of Libya and Somalia is evident for everyone to see as they are living down the consequences of a change there apparently were not prepared for. They have not been stable ever since and law and order have broken down in those countries.
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If you will take anything away from this segment today, let it be that while change is a necessary fall out of our existence in time and space and hence, a natural to us, we must be very circumspect in handling it in every aspect of our lives. Change is good and most times inevitable for us all but we must know that the impact of change is not the same everywhere as the circumstances are not the same everywhere. The change that will elevate some when they embrace it will devastate some if they do same. So, you must know how to manage change as only those who master this art stay relevant for the longest.
As the good book says, you must “be wise as a serpent and be gentle as a dove” for you not to fall victim of life changes. This is something you must consider in all aspects of your living endeavours from work to family and leisure. Remember that while change is constant and inevitable, not all change may be for you.
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