Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

The human cycle of Change

The Universe has a simple cycle of Change: action, reaction. Essentially, this is also Isaac Newton‘s third Law of Motion: for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction (eg, NASA, Wiki). The human cycle of Change has an additional element: acceptance.

The default human cycle of Change follows nature’s default: deeds (ie, actions), change, acceptance, equilibrium. However, situations go from simple to complex when we do not accept changes. Today’s polycrisis is due to our not accepting certain events (eg, zero-Covid, Russian invasion of Ukraine).

At the recent opening of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, its president reiterated that China will not accept the status quo on Taiwan: it’s either reunification or a military attack (eg, FT, Nikkei). American actions (eg, export restrictions, reshoring) are geared towards maintaining that status quo.

Hence, it’s quite likely that the current polycrisis will further deteriorate until there are clear winners and losers. I have little doubt that China and Russia will be amongst the losers, and the USA amongst the winners. A united Europe may, however, not be in the American interest (eg, divide and rule).

It’s an intriguing question why humans – unlike the Universe – have this option of (non-) acceptance.

Some relevant quotes on non-acceptance:

  • Nonacceptance is always suffering, no matter what you are not accepting. Acceptance is always freedom, no matter what you are accepting. Cheri Huber
  • Lao Tzu says: “Accept yourself. Non-acceptance is the root of all the trouble.” None of us accept ourselves. The more a person doesn’t accept himself, the greater a mahatma he looks to others to be. We are our greatest enemy. If we had our way, we would cut ourselves to pieces in order to remove what was unacceptable. Rajneesh
  • What is Fear? Non-acceptance of uncertainty. If we accept that uncertainty, it becomes an adventure! Rumi
  • The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. Nathaniel Branden
  • Peace is non-resistance, complete acceptance, identification with all, everyone, everything. Lester Levenson

In The Army Now (1982) Status Quo (1986 cover song)
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-song

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.

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