By Ali Boukind
People say a lot of things about change. Some of us think that people don’t change, that even if people say that they’ve changed, that they are not who they used to be, they remain the same. Their personality type is inborn. Some say: “If you want things to change now, you need to start by changing yourself.” Let me give you my own opinion on change. People change. More precisely, they change because of their surroundings, who they talk to and what happened in their lives.
It’s true, don’t cry about it.: your best friend Bob from primary school might turn into a gang rapist but, you know what? Everything changes. I see this life like a beach: the water might look the same everyday but the waves tell you otherwise: everything is in motion, everything moves from a state to another and, as you may have noticed already, because everything changes, everything is temporary: your life will stop, the universe will empty of heat, this essay has an end and Brian Cheng Dooley will one-day stop using Google Calendar.
So far, everything that I said is pretty evident but I know that some of you might feel sad about that. Truly, how can you attach yourself to things, people, knowing that it is going to end? Why are we doing this to our mental health? Why are we attaching ourselves to things that have a expiration date? I don’t know much more of the meaning of happiness than you but let me give you my two cents: We love, we feel happiness because things end.
Yes, you are enjoying this ice cream because, at a certain point, you won’t be eating. You enjoy this cigarette because it will completely burn and end, satisfying your craving of nicotine momentarily. You enjoy friends and family because they won’t always be here. You are hooked to the plot of a movie because it has an ending.
And you know what’s beautiful? Not only the good things have an end. Your sadness will end, your anger will be calmed, the mistakes you’ve done will be forgotten, the DC Dialogues that you thought would be interesting but isn’t will stop in few minutes etc.
You might think that I am inviting you to not attach yourself to things because they will end: this is absolutely wrong and, in my opinion, impossible contrary to what Buddha is inviting us to do in the Dhammapada. No, I think what you should do is be grateful of the exact moment you are living in. When you give a hug, hug with extraordinary love and affection because, one day, you won’t be able to hug that person anymore. When you see your friends happy on a Saturday night, I want you to stop and admire their smiles because, one day, for a reason or another, this smiles won’t be present in their beautiful faces. In the contrary, if you feel sad, if you witnessed something you did not want to witness or if you offended someone you shouldn’t offend, if you threw up on someone or got a shitty grade in your Cultural journal just know that time heals every wounds. Why? Well, it’s because things change.
Life is beautiful, it’s amazing and full of surprises, one day is completely different than the other and each of your interactions with someone won’t be the same every single day. Like the tide of an ocean, you will have your high and lows and this exactly why you should fully enjoy your highs and recover fast from your lows, knowing that they are just a temporary states. Life is very interesting and it is not in any case, boring (not even when you study Lamassus). I love life and you should too. Why? Well, it’s because things change.
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of NYU DC Violets or the NYU DC Program, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
