Article June 2, 2003 Issue

Where does change come from?

By Annette Kreutziger-Herr

We are what we are. We are "this way" or we've been "like this" ever since we were first aware of having an identity. Or so the popular notion goes.

Well, are we the same every day? And have we always been the same? When we take a thorough look at daily life, at our thoughts and motives, we may detect unseen changes that we haven't noticed before. I've found that putting one's life under the microscope of mental self-examination discloses a stunning fact: Life is never static.

Every day we change and are changed. We learn and observe. We think and make decisions. Despite the fact that most thoughts we think each day—at least according to many psychologists—are largely the same (and some thoughts are repeat offenders!), there is something different each day. Some days there's more difference than others, but each day has at least a small degree of newness. Just as it is true that you cannot step into the same river twice, so in much the same way there is an element of newness and diversity in even the most routine days or deeds.

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