by Katie Butler-Johnson
Benjamin Franklin was a master at coining wise and witty sayings.
Many of Franklin’s sayings first appeared in “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” the Colonial American Periodical he published from 1733 to 1757. Here are just a few: “Haste makes Waste” - “Well done is better than well said” - “Lost time is never found again.”
I think one of Franklin’s quotes, an old adage you’ve heard before, should be revised. “IN THIS WORLD, NOTHING IS CERTAIN EXCEPT DEATH AND TAXES.’” But, there is something a lot more certain - especially than taxes - it’s “CHANGE.”
I think change is THE constant in our lives. We could fight against change like the luddites did in 19th century England. That just delayed the change that came when the industrial revolution came pushing through their gate. Or we can choose to plot our path through change. Change gives us the choice of how to react to it and how we choose to react contributes to how our future will unfold.
My Mom was born in New York City in 1909. She told me that, as a child, she used to sit by her window and watch as the lamplighters come down the street lighting up the gas street lamps each night. Her street was one of the last to be electrified. She marveled at how life changed for her over her lifetime. She viewed the changes as her being on one amazing adventure.
During her youth, cars edged out horses and carts pretty quickly and that made NYC streets a lot cleaner. Although the radio had been invented, it wasn’t widely used till the 1920’s. Penicillin had been discovered in 1928 but didn’t come into wide use till the mid 1940’s – just in time to heal her children’s ear and throat infections.
Mom was grateful to have lived to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. She got to see what she thought were impossibilities become possibilities and then those possibilities became realities. For her, change brought more blessings than problems.
Until 1997 when she passed on, I would take a weekend here and there to fly to NYC and just sit with Mom - one on one - let her take me back in time with her – and let her tell me what she learned about life and what she wanted her grandchildren to know.
Our lives today seem to be constantly in flux. Some of the changes on the horizon like artificial intelligence are daunting. We’ve already experienced enormous technical advancements in the last half century. One of my favorites is GPS. It’s a godsent for someone like me who has trouble driving while using a map at the same time. I’ve used GPS to successfully navigate all over Texas, California, New Mexico and New York.
So how do I think we should react to all the flux and change swirling around us? It’s up to each one of us to decide for ourselves.
As for me, I’m following Mom’s positive approach. I’m embracing this human adventure I’m on but cautiously assessing the changes that may arrive with it, because, as Franklin would have been spot on had he’d said,
“In this world, nothing is certain except change.”
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