I'm fine with change for the most part, because change is a part of life, and our lives will continue to evolve and change even if we are resistant to the changes. Alan Deutschman summed up my attitude toward change generally when he wrote 'change or die'. But I'm not fine with unnecessary or frivolous change, or both. A number of so-called leaders need to leave their mark on things, so they 'make changes' to existing systems and structures that seem to be functioning perfectly well. Necessary? No, for the most part. Frivolous? Yes, if you're spending taxpayer dollars on vanity projects that reflect your narcissism. I'm a 'don't fix it if it ain't broke' kind of person. I'm also against 'change for change's sake'. There's too much of both in politics, in religion, and in the workplace. Here are some quotes about change, reflecting the pros and the cons:
Do not ever take down a fence until you know the reason why it was put up. –GK Chesterton
Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable. --Denis Waitley
Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes. --Hugh Prather
The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything... or nothing. --Nancy Astor
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. --Ellen Glasgow
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. --Bertolt Brecht
Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. --Arnold Bennett
Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are. --Soren Kierkegaard
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living. --Gail Sheehy
The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience not from our mental resolution to try a new form of life. --Leo Tolstoy
I'm always willing to accept change, just as long as it isn't change for the sake of change. If that change will result in a better way of doing things, then I'm all for it. –James Van Fleet
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. –Maya Angelou
