Listen for the quiet
- roamcare
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
As spring weather becomes more springlike, it seems like a good time to talk about change. Setting aside the cliches – the only constant is change, change is opportunity, progress is impossible without change – change is one of the most cited topics in inspirational quotes from speeches, writings, and songs. Perhaps the two most profound “change” quotes invoke quite opposite thoughts and responses.
It could be the earliest recorded thought on change. The fifth century BC Greek philosopher Heraclitus in believing permanence is an illusion, began the change movement with “There is nothing permanent except change.” Heraclitus believed the world was constantly changing, describing it as always in flux, always becoming but never being. He also believed that like the world, man is ever changing.
Skipping ahead some 3000 years, American author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, “You can’t change what’s going on around you until you change what’s going on in you.” Ziglar intimated you must practice self-reflection and examine your beliefs, practices, and feelings before you can expect to change or to affect change in others.
So which is it – change is all around and within us as a natural part of our existence, or change happens when we take the steps to initiate it? It’s probably more neither than both. Yes, we are closing our ears to the noise about change, both the change being inevitable and change being instigated. Change is self-fulfilling. So we say.
Too often we use change as an excuse for our actions, or inactions, rather than an impetus to them. We call for the need for a change then wait for others to do the hard work of change. Or we explain away lapses in performance or even in judgement by citing something that had changed without our knowledge. We’ve turned change into the noise that detracts, distracts, and deflects us from responsible action.
The quiet side of change too often is overlooked. Consider change as the beauty stimulated by the increasing warmth and lengthening daytimes of the new season. It is neither something we should not grow too fond of or accustomed to because ultimately it will change again, nor is it something that we had to invoke by making a change first within ourselves. It just is, and it is there to be appreciated, not to be suspected.
There is too much noise surrounding change, the need for change, the desire not to change, and the wait for the inevitable change. Lost is the quiet beauty of change, its growth and transformation, creating hope and healing.
Diem recently wrote of a childhood road trip in a past Spring, “I remember the excitement, the fresh spring air, and the awe of seeing row after row of tulips stretching toward the sky. In one field of yellow, I spotted a single red tulip. … I often think back to that red tulip standing proudly in a sea of yellow—not remarkable in spite of its difference, but because of it. How one fresh perspective can spark hope, healing, and transformation.”
Change does not have to be noisy and dramatic, a raging inferno of uncertainty and suspicion. It can be, almost always is, a soothing passage, a quiet progression, a fresh experience. Hear the quiet. That’s where the beauty of change waits to be discovered.
The reality of change is that it happens--all the time. I love your comment--"We've turned change into the noise that detracts, distracts, and deflects us from responsible action." We use it as an excuse when we don't like what's happening or can't control what's going on. But the idea that it can be a soothing passage, a quiet progression, and a fresh experience is a whole new way of thinking. Well said, you all. Embracing the hope and possibilities of change rather than the fear of what may be.