The only constant in life is change.
Heraclitus
Over the past two decades of my life, I have noticed much change as I continue to progress over life’s various stages. From my childhood to teenage years, and now being on the cusp of young adulthood, many opportunities have been taken or let go, of which the amalgamation of my choices has resulted in continuous change in my life’s trajectory from one destination to another.
As I have progressively aged, my thoughts have undoubtedly changed over time. For instance, the many things that I have thought about as a teenager, I would now consider naïve, or even foolish because of the life experience I have accumulated since then. Or even considering the earlier posts of this blog about a year ago, I have perceived a slight transition with regards to values, in which I was much more neurotic and perfectionistic than at present, which I observed is reflected in my writing.
In line with Heraclitus, I, and very likely you too, have always observed that we have changed in the past. Hence by induction, we can certainly expect that we will also change in the future.
It may be a good exercise to think about where we see ourselves in 10 years’ time – our plan A. What career would we be in? Which country will we live in? Will marriage even occur, in which children are not far away? If we do this again and again for plan B, plan C plan D etc… we’ll quickly realise that the possibilities for the future are no less than infinite.
Even just in considering our 10-year plan A, we would expect much change in ourselves. What we think in a year’s time may not be what we currently think now. Hence to hedge for the future, we must consider the malleable nature of the future self. This means not deliberately closing doors and keeping our options open, lest we do change. This may require doing well in school or university to keep future pathways open, as well as not being afraid in trying new things in order that we may be more cognisant of what possibilities lay in the future.
Yet at the same time, we should not be paralysed by the various world lines in which we can strive towards. Life is certainly about the journey and not the destination. As the journey is more than 99% of our life, in which the destination is but a fading moment, let us endeavour to savour each and every step we do take on the path of self-discovery.
It is about the strenuous hike up the mountain of life that makes the already picturesque view of the summit more beautiful.
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