Joan Marques - Ed.D., MBA.
Burbank, California

Like a moving windmill our perceptions change. Stability only lasts for a while, and depending on the size of the project or the intensity of the emotion at hand, this "while" may last shorter or longer. But "a while" it will be anyway, for even the most valuable experiences today may seem meaningless tomorrow through changes in perceptions, whether generated by external developments or not.

That's the change we go through: call it spiritual evolution, mental growth, or just human transformation. A love that we once cherished with the deepest care, may gradually transform into a gutless camaraderie that could be discarded without much regret. A corporate vision we proudly developed and shared barely a decennium ago, may seem hollow and unbefitting in today's environment. A passion we once had toward a desirable goal may have imperceptibly altered, either into a dreadful mission, or into an entirely different vision.

As indicated before, changes within are often stimulated by changes around. But spiritual evolution is a factor we should not underestimate in the process. Sometimes it may happen that all factors remain the same, and yet our feelings or perceptions change.

The hardest part of this fact is that we may find ourselves refusing to admit it, because we dread being perceived as inconsistent, unreliable, or weak. Thus, for the sake of perceived stability, dependability and strength, we hold on to dreams, visions, and relationships that lost their value to us, but that we got trapped in, due to the fact that we once enthusiastically embarked upon them.

Now, if you care to take a few steps back and attempt to view the change phenomenon from a distance, you may find that the entire structure of our current social system is actually restrictive to our natural human mentality: By engaging in marriage, corporate structures, and legal agreements of any other kind, we directly contradict the natural change process that we, ever-evolving human beings, are prone to.

That being said, it is also true that some sort of structure is unavoidable, and that organization and lawful confirmation of the promises we make and the responsibilities we take is a necessity, as a world of dissoluteness would probably lead to insuperable problems, to a much higher degree than the ones we currently cope with. Yet: the very fact that lawful confirmation is a necessity does not make it much easier to digest.

Although in corporate and societal matters change is not favored, it is dealt with in one way or another: corporations alter their strategies and their production lines when they find that the old ways are not in demand anymore. This may take shorter or longer, depending on the level of awareness and flexibility from the corporation's leaders, and the nature and size of the organization in total.

But personal change may be a harder one to deal with, especially if it is not initiated by external factors, but rather by inner-evolution. How do you tell someone who once was your world that you don't really care anymore, even though nothing significantly has changed? How do you explain the wear and tear on your desire, which caused you to lose interest? How do you, thus, sell the natural process of change within one changing human being to another in a society that has taught us that such is bad?

The answer to this is still up there somewhere. You can try using superb communication skills, and you may even be able to make it acceptable to the other party. But how about your own emotional state? Ever tried to understand this evolution within yourself? Or are you just allowing it to come over you without too much brain- or heart trouble? If you can do that, you have either settled for acceptance of the incomprehensible, like the majority of religious followers, or you have managed to comprehend something many others are still struggling with. And in the latter case: be our mentor!