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Adapting for Action

In the average 80-year lifespan, there are several things one can call valuable, such as wealth, joy or love.  How are they important? What is this quality that makes them dear to us? The answer lies in how they  affect our lives, whether they help us succeed. It has been generally accepted that knowledge is one of  many components of success and what better way to gain knowledge than through experience and  lessons? These are not your typical classroom lessons, however. These are lessons learned from  introspection and one such lesson I have learned is that change is necessary. I shall explain why it is  important to the average person and why it holds high value in my eyes. 

To begin with, if there is no change, life is static. There would only be waking up, monotony, sleeping and repeating. Our everyday activities can be compared to a beating heart, if the heart keeps working, if  we are active both physically and mentally, happy living is maintained. If the heart stops, if we halt our  activities and give way to tedium, the heart flatlines, in this case signifying the death of liveliness.  Moreover, change stimulates the brain; according to neuroscience PhD holder Dr Pascale Michelon, “The  brain compensates for damage by reorganising and forming new connections between intact neurons. To  reconnect, the neurons need to be stimulated through activity.” These activities are allowed by brain  flexibility, which is caused by change. Therefore change is needed for optimal mental health. 

Furthermore, change showed me how and why I need to adapt to circumstances. The month before the  2020 lockdown, I had a mentality that I was perfect with flawless friends, grades and personality. I  thought I was immune to mistakes and that I was liked by everyone around me. This was true on the  surface, but I was unaware of how my character made me unpopular behind my back. Whenever signs of  this came to my attention, I took it for hate. I was unwilling to make new friends and remained close to  those I had, with close in the broadest sense of the word. March-April 2020 came along and I realised I  had nobody to help me during the trying times because I was not sociable when I had the chance. I  promised myself that once the country reopened, I would make as many friends as my time allowed.

To this day, I have tried my absolute best to at least acquaint myself with people I barely knew in my  year. The effect has been astounding, to say the least, and I can hardly believe I once had a bitter dislike  for people I now talk to almost every day. To sum it up, change for the better has made my life a brighter  place as opposed to the grey serious atmosphere it used to have. I often liken life to a pond, an  unchangeable personality is like stagnant water, unlikeable and pale, so you better be flexible to this  mortal coil’s twists before your act goes stale.

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