Recently, I was reminded of a good way of thinking. That is, we focus on changes instead of stable things. That makes it easier to change our lives. So today, I’ll talk about it.
How to let go of unnecessary wants
Sometimes, we want to change our lives due to stressful days. We want to stop disgusting activities and start our comfortable, fulfilling days.
But we often cannot do it because we cannot give up unnecessary wants. We often want praise or social status, even if we can predict that it won’t fulfill us. So that prevents us from changing our lives. And that depresses us.
In such a situation, try focusing on changes in everything. That might make us let go of unnecessary obsessions in our lives. And that might make it easier to change our lives.
Focusing on change or stability
We can recognize our circumstances through both change and stability.
If we focus on what changes, we will understand that everything will change. That makes us think about what and how things will change in the future. And that tells us what we can do now.
On the other hand, if we focus on what is stable, we will know what and how to make our circumstances stable. And it helps us maintain our current situation.
For example, assume we are doing disgusting work for money and want to change. “I have to do disgusting work today, too.” If we think so, such an unchanging future will depress us. This is focusing on stable things.
On the other hand, we can focus on what changes. “Now, I’m in the phase of letting go of my obsession with my current work.” If we think so, we can understand that this is a temporary situation. And we can expect that our work or work style will change. That allows us to imagine our new future.
The understanding of “everything changes”
And if we can understand that everything changes, we can change our lives easily because we don’t stick to one thing or state.
“Everything changes” means everything will end and change its shape someday. We cannot do the current work forever. The current job or company never lasts forever. Whether it matters to us or not, many things will end someday, such as our societies, the people around us, our situations, our lives, and even our meaning of life. And after their end, they will change their shape to adapt to the next stage of the world.
That awareness gives us a higher perspective on our lives. And that tells us the minimum need or meaning in the current situation. We can understand, “At the very least, I just need to get this here. I don’t want anything else here.” It tells us what we can do now.
For example, if we understand that what we need is just money to make our lives a year, we can let go of other unnecessary anticipations for our current work. “At the very least, I just want money to live a year here. I don’t need anything else here.” So, we can let go of unnecessary, stressful things, such as unnecessary human relationships, praise, or status.
And if we view our current situation from the perspective of life, we can think about at least what we want to do in our lives. “At the very least, I just want to do this in my life, in my current values.” That awareness helps us let go of unnecessary burdens.
Conclusion
So, I think focusing on changes makes it easier to change our lives.
Everything will change—not only our society but also our meaning of life. The acceptance of these changes will make us ready to change.
If we understand this perspective, we might be able to change our lives easier.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
