Resistance to Change

We all know that there is a direct correlation between age and physical flexibility. As we grow older unless we put hard work into it, that youth flexibility disappears fast. This direct correlation is evident in other facets of our life one of which is the openness to accepting change. It seem as we grow older (don’t mean old but just older) we develop a resistance to change that is opposite to the growing up attitude and level of acceptance. In fact up to age of 24 or so accepting change was part of ordinary life. The maximum you stayed in a school was 6 years, then to high school and then to university (maybe in a different country even) or work life. That was the maximum we stayed in a social comfort zone; 6 years.We faced the unknown of the next year’s curriculum, new neighborhood, new friends and teachers without blinking an eye. In fact a lot of times most of us were looking forward to these changes. They were exciting and challenging.  But as we grow up and grow older, we establish comfort zones that we believe should last forever. Any suggestion of change creates panic and anxiety not only in ourselves but also those around ut. This resistance to change is encouraged by some indirect ways that sometimes doesn’t even register as such. For example imagine you change job every 4 years. After the second change your CV doesn’t look appealing to most employers and you get branded  not stable  or  not good investment for training. It takes a very open minded employer to realize that you were opening your horizon, gaining different experiences and you are a challenger and risk taker. To see that in fact you are bringing new ideas and new way of looking at things. In fact most trainings are to mold you not only to learn the technicality of the job but also to mold you into the company’s unwritten culture...deviations are frowned at. This resistance to change gets extended to the forever moving social norms. These days these changes are happening even faster than before so much so that most of us are in awe and most of us have had to change our ways of thinking and attitudes and understanding towards lot of things. That is of course if to start with we were able to overcome our resistance to change. Most parents have to accept that their children are not going to behave like them no matter how hard they try to inforce their way of dealing with issues. We have to accept that with each generation there is a paradigm shift in the understanding and outlook on the world. However, this doesn’t necessarily is bad. It can be productive in the way of removing old taboos that used to stifle creativity of the mind; making decisions that are logical instead of liked by neighbors!!!  The world is becoming such a small place in most aspects and it is almost impossible to block ourselves and our children from the influence of the rest of the world. And why should we block ourselves. All we need to do is to put some filters. Choose the good and discard the bad.  We have to be brave and allow ourselves to be more adventurous and accept good ideas even if they don’t resonate with our used to way of thinking.