'Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.'

stickywicket
stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
edited 28. Jan 2015, 04:56 in Living with Arthritis archive
I came across this quote by someone called Karen Kaiser Clark and couldn't help but think how much it applied to living with arthritis. What do you think?
If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Steven Wright

Comments

  • ichabod6
    ichabod6 Member Posts: 843
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Where did you find it, and what was you looking for?
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I certainly agree with the first part but am debating the second - I assume it means that maturing is optional. As far as I can see you can do nothing about the former so why does choice come into it? (I have Monday morning brain so cannot think too clearly at the moment. :oops: )

    I like this quote: to become old and wise one should first be young and foolish. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    ichabod6 wrote:
    Where did you find it, and what was you looking for?

    :? OK, I was reading an article by an astronomer about 'Life in the Universe'. He used the phrase 'Life is change' but in a way that made me feel this wasn't something he'd made up - more of an accepted fact - so I googled it. And up came the quote.

    To me, arthritic life is all about adapting to the frequent changes. We can accept the inevitable and move on (ie the learning and 'growth') or we can resist, cling to our old lives, always look back with regret and so never see the possibilities of what lies ahead.

    Another quote from the original article is 'Life's changes are not simple. Living things change for both better and worse simultaneously.'
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • LignumVitae
    LignumVitae Member Posts: 1,972
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    My work is all about trying to manage the change in the environment around us now and into the future. I work at a connecting space and time to try and manage things environments so they are valued culturally and are resilient to changes and forces acting upon them.

    I love the transient nature of it all and how we don't see it or recognise it because we are such dots on the timescale of environmental change. I think it shapes how I go through life for the most part. My favourite 'professional' quote which shapes my working philosophy and how I deal with life in general talks about how we become attached to our landscapes and hate changes to them but in fact 'the true tragedy is not that the old must go but that the new should be bad'. I always try and make sure the new is as good and shiny as it can be. It isn't always possible to find the good in the new straight away but I guess that is where the growing bit comes in - you have to grow into your new situation and you have to make choices that will allow you to do that, generally resisting is going to restrict choice and prevent you growing. It's up to us to make sure the new isn't bad and prevent that true tragedy.
    Hey little fighter, things will get brighter
  • theresak
    theresak Member Posts: 1,998
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I think we have to adapt to changes whether we are arthritic or not as we go through life. I very much agree though, that adapting and moving forwards is infinitely wiser than looking back with regret. If something happened in the past, that`s it - we can do nothing about it - much more sensible to go forward.

    Having said that, my wise mother used to tell me not to look too far ahead, which is probably sensible too!
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I think few things are sadder than a person who has their 'world map' of how things are, what is good, bad etc and has a need to hammer new bits of information into it (though they plainly don't fit) rather than acknowledge their 'map' is wrong and must change to incorporate the new fact(s).

    I quite agree with your Mum, Tezz. If we look too far ahead we can see dangers that will probably never arise.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Starburst
    Starburst Member Posts: 2,546
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    LV, I'm curious now. Do you mind sharing what job you do? No worries if you don't. :)

    Sticky, interesting quote. I was thinking about change only yesterday. I was thinking about why I am finding the concept of acceptance so difficult. I realised that every time I accept something for how it is in that moment, it changes again. I am solely referring to my health and my physical status but it's probably true for all aspects of life.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    For what it's worth my take on such matters has always been that I make the best choice I can, based on all the information which is available to me at the time of making that choice. Over the years I've learned that my arthritic life is always in a state of flux (and that in itself is difficult to comprehend and easy to over-think) but life changes and moves on regardless of our wishes and desires.

    Here comes a clumsy analogy: if a pond stagnates nothing survives but if that pond is well-tended life can thrive, so who tends our ponds? Ourselves? Others? Ourselves with the help of others? Others with the help of ourselves? Only one thing is certain: life with our conditions is in a state of flux and that will never change. Now there's a conundrum. :wink: DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I think I'm coming round to the Buddhist view that clinging to anything is, essentially, not good for us. We have to adapt and let go all the time.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright