Change

Last summer I decided I wanted to start running, and what better way to get motivated than listening to empowering sports speeches? So, as I was listening, a quote caught my attention. As I would later learn, it was Les Brown, former American politician, who gave me food for thought that I haven’t forgotten since. He said, “If you’re not willing to risk, you can’t grow, and if you can’t grow, you can’t become your best, and if you can’t become your best, you can’t be happy, and if you can’t be happy, what else is there?”

I’ve had nearly a year to ponder this quote. What in and of its essence, does it mean? Is it talking about unlocking your true potential, following your passion, working hard, taking risks? Through it all, an epiphany dawned on me: this entire quote speaks about change.

When you really think about it, and not just on a surface level, you realize that life is essentially nothing but change. It’s literally the reason humans exist today. We have changed, we have evolved over thousands of years, and we continue to today. But then I started to put the meaning of change into the quote. Taking the first part, it speaks about risk-taking leading to growth, and my mind immediately went to a personal struggle of mine. I am an extremely extroverted person, but in certain areas, I feel I’m holding myself back. So to me, that first part about risk-taking is stepping outside of your comfort zone. You are taking the risk to trust yourself with whatever you are uncomfortable doing, and thus, you find room to grow. You have increased the area you have to work with, so now you have more that you can accomplish.

Next, we move on to the second part of the quote, growing to become your best. This is where I envision a river meeting an ocean: the river is you growing and growing, and your banks grow farther every day because you need more room to be yourself. So, slowly, very slowly, your banks grow wide enough for you to merge with an ocean—the rest of all your unlocked potential, and the key, was where we began: the key was change. While I believe that Brown refers to “being the best” as being the number one person in your chosen field, I choose to interpret being the best as something different. I choose to interpret it as being wholly and completely yourself.

The last part is where I have conflicting feelings. It talks about being your best, giving you happiness, but when I think about life, the real nitty gritty parts of it, I wonder if that's true. Is success all that ensures our joy, our happiness? What truly is being our best? And the answer to that, I believe, is really subjective. Being the best could be winning first place—that rush of adrenaline, that success, should be what brings you joy. Or, being your best could be working from home as a mother, balancing your kids and your job, and still finding time to sit with yourself and appreciate how much you are accomplishing. That self-appreciation might be what fuels your happiness. Or, it could be you as a teenager going to school, making good grades, showing up for your sports, and making time for your passions. That level of just being could provide you with happiness. Or simply, maybe your best is just surviving. You make it twenty-four hours, and that brings you joy, which brings us to the last part of the quote.

Brown said, “...and if you can’t be happy, what else is there?” All we really want in life is to be happy, to be fulfilled. There is something intangible that everyone, at least at one point in their life, searches out to find. Some people travel the world, some people try to create a family, and some people express themselves. That intangible thing that we all search for? That is the happiness that Brown talks about. It’s not happiness, not entirely, but at the same time, it’s not so far off. I think that some of the wonder lies in the mystery of not knowing what we are looking for.

I want to conclude with a little something I noticed in all forms of storytelling. In any narrative, the objective of the story is to have the character come out with growth. We follow a character through a story, see them change, overcome obstacles, and learn from their mistakes, and recently, I’ve noticed that when a character gets removed from the story, killed off, it’s usually because they have no room left to grow. They have experienced so much and learnt from it all that there is no reason for them to remain in that story for any more time. And that thought process led me to think whether that is what happens in real life, too? Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in science, but when a person is taken out of our story, could it be because we have nothing left to grow from their presence? Do we have more chapters to live, and they just don't have a place in it? 

What I’m trying to say is that life is change. Every day we experience change, and we become better for it. It may show today, or tomorrow, next month, or next year, but it will happen.

It is inevitable as it is what makes us human.