The
River Flows
Every now and again I'll
find myself running across a phrase or possibly a quotation in
something I'm reading that will begin to spark the hidden philosopher
in me. Not too often, but once in a while it'll hit me in my sweet
spot and start the old synapses firing.
Most of the time I'm
pretty prosaic and down-to-earth and try not to second guess the
universe as it flows past me. Things are as they are and most
processes and situations generally have their own inertia about them
and tend to go on being what they are. Habits become ingrained and
my mind starts to become dull. However, once in a while, as I said
before, I'll see something that rings so true that it pulls the veil
from the eyes of my everyday life and makes me say, “ Of course!
That's so true! How could I have been so blind!”
Perhaps if I'd studied
philosophy as a younger man these occasionally uncovered gems might
not be as enlightening or surprising. But my education in that area
is sadly lacking, so when I do discover those ideas they are as
refreshing as a cool rain shower on a hot July afternoon.
Tonight I ran across
another one.
Way back in the Golden Age
of Greece there was this gentleman by the name of Heraclitis. The
history books say he lived from 535 BC to 475 BC. (And, as an aside,
don't you wish the years of your life were counting down
instead of up?) Anyhow, he was a famous Greek philosopher who was
known for his doctrine of change being central to the universe.
Sort of an early-day
Einstein stating a counterpoint to his explanation that all things
are relative.
The quote of Heraclitis'
that I ran across tonight was, “No man ever steps into the same
river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”
Something to really
reflect on, isn't it? Not only do all things change in the
outer world, but you yourself change day by day, hour by hour.
You're not the same person who you were this morning. Not
only physically, but mentally also – maybe even more so mentally.
Each day we learn. We
discover new things. Our minds can change. We may find out that
things that we accepted as true or which we thought were “set in
stone” are not necessarily so. We might now even be willing to
accept that those things might now be polar opposites of what we used
to think! And whether we accept it or not, the world does
moves on and does carry us, willingly or unwillingly, to
wherever it's heading. Perhaps it might not be as apparent on a
day-to-day basis, but think back to last year, or five years ago.
Or ten.
Is the world the same as
it was then? Are you? If you're not living with blinders on you
have to respond in the negative. Things change. Always and
forever.
Look at a photo of
yourself from a decade ago. Now look in the mirror. If you see the
same face looking back at you, you better make an appointment with
your optometrist! That fact may make you sad or may make you happy
but it should always be apparent.
It's phenomenally easy to
fall into a rut and think that life is same-o, same-o. You go to
work, eat, sleep, etc., etc. You see generally the same people, the
same faces, the same tasks placed before you. It may be the habit
that humans are best in – falling into ruts and making them deeper
and deeper until they're too high to see out of.
But same-o, same-o is not
reality.
As an example, consider
this:
I work at a job that
requires me to watch a monitor which displays the condition of a
group of public water systems. The levels of their water towers, the
speed of water being pumped out of their pumps and into those towers,
the amount of chlorine being injected into each of the water systems
to make the water safe, the water flowing out of the towers as demand
increases. When I'm training a new operator in this particular job I
always make sure to tell them to look at the monitor right then and
take notice of it. And I then tell them that they will never
see it look the same again. Never. The reason for this is
that the display shows a snapshot of a dynamic system. Not a
static system. A dynamic system is always changing and
is never the same.
I guess you could compare
life to that dynamic display I watch five days a week. I've
monitored it for almost 12 years now and have never seen it showing
the same screen. Never. There is always something different.
Something is always moving up or moving down. The gallons-per-minute
displays are always moving – a little faster now, a little slower
later.
We even used to play a
game where we would watch to see if ever three certain towers might
be at the same level at the same time.
I saw it happen once for
about 5 minutes.
In 12 years.
But everything else on the
screen was different.
I guess the parallels with
the world and yourself as compared to my microcosmic world of county
water systems are pretty evident. Life is a dynamic system, not a
static one.
It might even be like
taking a rifle shot at a moving target from a moving train during a
heavy wind on uneven terrain. In the dark. That particular shot
will never present itself the same again.
So when you wake up
tomorrow, take a good look around. Take a mental picture of your
world and put it in your mental box of keepsakes. Because when you
wake up the next day the world and YOU will no longer be the
same.
The river and you
will have moved.
For better or for worse...
