SOME people are comfortable to make changes in their habits, lifestyles, attitudes and mentality whenever it is necessary. These kind of people are easily adaptable to their environment.

However, many of us – particularly older people – are reluctant or hesitant to change in many aspects.

It is human nature to prefer to stay within our comfort zone. When someone asks us to make a necessary change we will often give several responses. Initially there might be a denial of the need for change and then resistance, followed by revolution and acceptance and then finally – hopefully – a commitment to make change. But what we often overlook is that human beings are very adaptable to change throughout their life – from the time we came out of our mother’s womb until we breathe our last.

Most of us begin learning and developing skills in the first three months of life. We express our needs, such as hunger, by giving signals, such as crying.

At about one year of age we might begin to stand up, walk and fall down quite often. This is just another example of making changes and adapting in different stages.

Then comes the school-going age, where we are forced to develop social skills and int-eract with complete strangers.

When we work and marry, we also have to adapt.

In Myanmar, many families still rely on the single income of the father. But times have changed; there should be no discrimination based on gender. In households such as this, we need to recognise the importance of the wife’s role in the home. It will not be a pleasant place if the husband is proud because he is the sole breadwinner in the family and regards the job of washing clothes, cleaning dishes and cooking meals as trivial things because they do not earn money. In many cases, the wife will in fact run the household.
When we begin working, we also have to adjust to a foreign environment, one that requires us to be incredibly flexible. Workplaces are constantly changing, with staff coming and going, being promoted and retiring.

A healthy workplace includes staff from all kinds of backgrounds, with different attitudes and mentalities that may challenge and probably change us.

Then, the retirement age comes and we have to make the transition from employ-ment. A general manager, for instance, might become a babysitter of their grandchild-ren or become more engaged in religious or social matters.

Change is a constant presence in our life. Now the New Year is just around the corner and 2009 – like every year – will be 12 months of change, accompanied by inevitable adaptation.

Life presents us with many different challenges that necessitate change. But often, in facing these challenges, we should be mindful of the past and how we have reacted and overcome challenges before.

We should be prepared to make informed decisions and not to repeat the same mistakes and sins.

This is relevant in all walks of life – personal, business, religious or any other. The present Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, once said to a Myanmar visitor who commented on the high level of development in India’s IT sector:

“We are here at this stage after making thousands of mistakes and changes.”