0 Change and Identity

Nothing remains the same, and yet nothing truly changes. From the perspective of time, time changes continuously. Therefore, nothing can stay the same. No one can stop the time. The object we see several minutes ago has changed, become older, dirtier, weaker, and so on. Identity also changes over time. Feelings and emotions change very often in a matter of minutes. From full to hungry, from energetic to lethargic, cheerful to sad, and so on. We have very little control even to our own feelings and emotions. Our actions are also beyond our control because they follow the states of mind, feelings and emotions. We can try this with a simple task, meditation. Meditation is an act of doing nothing. Just tell ourselves "I want to meditate for three hours", then see what happens. What stops us from accomplishing a task is the change inside ourselves. So, if we are not in control to our actions and behavior, then who does? Is a man only an automathon who has no control but very little to his own mind and body? Chinese philosophers such as Konfusius believes that human doesn't have single permanent soul as most people believe. a man is merely a pattern he has fallen into. The pattern comes from experiences and knowledge he has. If one always does something for long enough time, he will start to attach his identity to the action. One who studies everyday will believe that he is a student, who teaches every day a teacher, who writes everyday a writer, and so on. To change the identity, one must change the pattern. A student who stop studying and start working changes his believe and identity from a student to a worker. This changes happen gradually, bit by bit. We can do it on purpose like an athlete by practicing every day. To be a writer, I just need to write every day for years and the identity as a writer will attach to me automatically and I will behave accordingly. The problem with most people is that they don't take the responsibility of their own body and mind. Thay belive that it's fate and unalterable. They give up before they even try. They judge themselves without even realizing what really happens. All people can have beautiful body if they believe it's just a matter of exercise everyday. Even to this simple assignment, they fail miserable. They will say they don't have time, it's not a problem, They were born with big bones, and so on. They can't stop themselves from eating more and getting more fat. If we can't handle such obvious and simple task, how can we expect something great from our hands to create? We can only become a victim mentality. What all people want is to be wealthy, healthy and happy. Most don't have three of them. They fail miserably. Wealth, they work for others and sell their time and labors, they enrich their boss but stay poor forever. Health, they don't adopt healthy lifestyle. They don't exercise everyday because they don't have time. They dedicate their time and energy to enrich their boss. They don't have enough time to get good sleep. They don't eat healthy foods because they don't have enough money to buy them, instead they eat junkfoods, fast foods and all kinds of snacks and cakes to boost their broken spirit for the tired and unhappy mind in the workplace. Happy, they are not happy but they must pretend to be happy, or else they have to accept defeat in their lives. They are very active to show off their fake happiness on social media. They want people to see them as happy and successful people. They don't have quality time for themselves to gain more power by reading or exercising. They don't understand that power equals happiness. They fake it and all people know about it and do the same thing. We can change to be better, to be the best. It doesn't happen by itself. The change that happens automatically is the change to their natural forms. It happens slowly and the direction is curve. You grow and then get old. There is always time to claim the responsibility and take the power to change. We can plan and direct the change of our life. There are facticity that we can't change at all such as body height, skin color, and so on, but so many things we can change. We can be wealthy, healthy and happy. Those things are in our own hands as long as we claim to take the responsibility.