Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It seems that the current word of the week (month? year?) is "Change." Everywhere we look is indication of change. If you look outside yourself, you're pretty likely to see change as negative. Look at the news. There's the "sky is falling" kind of change. There's the "sun is freaking out" kind of change. There's the "civilization-ending climate change" kind. There's the "fascist takeover" kind of change. There's the "imminent world-war-3" kind of change. Given that these types of change are the ones with media agents, many people are feeling distinctly unhappy about the idea.

I've been preaching for a while now about how, when stuff is as ridiculously screwed up as it is right now, change is good, even if it hurts a bit in the process, and I've been urging people to change their minds as the first step toward changing the world. I must say that as an agent of change, my plan seems to be sucking. Many times in the past couple of weeks, I've been tempted to stop writing, go into my solitary lair, also known as my garden, and sulk (or pull weeds). It seems everyone is still looking for an easy way out, an external savior, and a way to stay happily (or unhappily) stuck in their own wallow.

Right on cue, the Universe has sent me a lot of clues saying to stop feeling sorry for myself, pull up my big-girl pants, and get on with saving the world. ;-)

So, since I'm hardly a philosopher, I thought I'd compile some quotes of other people, who may have more credibility on the subject than I. Here are 20 really apt quotes about change.

1. “It doesn’t matter where you are, you are nowhere compared to where you can go.” -Bob Proctor
2. “Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.” -Bikram Choudhury.
3. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” -Andre Gide
4. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” -Wayne Gretzy
5. “May the bridges I burn light the way.” Marko Rakar
6. “In a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.” -Warren Buffett
7. “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson
8. “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” -Deepak Chopra
9. “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” -C.S. Lewis
10. “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” -Marilyn Monroe
11. “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” -Mark Twain
12. “When in doubt, choose change.” -Lily Leung
13. “The best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” -Theodore Roosevelt
14. “Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” -Walter Anderson
15. “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got” -Mark Twain
16. “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” –A.A. Milne
17. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
18. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” -Mary Anne Radmacher
19. “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” –Unknown
20. “Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.” -Richard Bach

Buckle up.