Changes

It was a week day evening last week; a friend asked me if my grandma’s situation has changed me at all. I usually love questions like that. Like a camera lens, one of my greatest joys in life is pulling events in and out of focus. Being able to analyse a situation from a personal perspective, then take a step back to observe the larger picture from a sociological standpoint, and then back to a subjective approach. (Yep, back and forth, just like that.) For a moment, I hesitated to answer her. For no other reason than I did not have an original response to launch into an exciting discussion.

“You never know what will happen in life,” I replied matter-of-factly in my monotonous tone. Somehow the conversation trailed off into how my dog died, relationships, friendships, work... and recently MICM’s purchase of Waterhouse rent roll, and our previous boss.

They were all changes beyond any one stakeholder’s control. Changes do not always happen for the better or for worse. Apples are to be compared to apples, not oranges. Changes just simply are, because nothing stays the same for forever.

She seemed surprised by my rather ‘cynical’ view. It was that point, I realised it is an interesting conversation we were having after all. It was for the first time in my life, I realised that what I took for granted as common sense is actually not a general knowledge. Perhaps a bit too controversial to be considered as general knowledge (just imagine what would happen to all those social values carried in a marriage certificate, families, commitment... etc.).

In my defence, I do not believe my view is cynical in any way. As a living being, change is inevitable. Way too often, change falls outside of our comfort zone. Instead of a negative view of change, people need to embrace change, learn to deal with change better. Changes may destroy our ideals, but they can be improvised to improve the present. If not, should tolerance and acceptance be part of our character to handle certain aspects of life.