Have you change or have I change?

I have been married 25 years already and have a puffy daughter called  May. Very frequently, I look at myself and wonder was I, the same me , 25 years ago. One old Chinese sage, Lao Tze said that nothing is static, everything is changing all the time. Well, I don't mean physically. Definitely, we will get old and die and our physical appearance will change as we get older.  Our hair will turn white, if we still have it , our teeth will drop which give us a dimple or sunken cheek and our skin will go lizard-like. No, no, no.  I am talking about our character. Can our character change over time and age ?

There is another Chinese saying " We can change the Dynasty easily but we can never change our basic character". Hey, why a China man can have so many things to say? Yes, a conflicting theory. Nothing is static and yet our character can never changed.

Yeah, after having some years in existence, I am qualified to say something , if not , alot of things. Yes, the basic character is very difficult to change.  The saying that "old habits die hard" holds alot of water.  Looking back 25 years ago before I got married. I have different focus and activities.  I was interested in making music and joining jam sessions. I was hoping around playing music with a group of friends; After I got married, I slow down and enjoy the honeymoon years with my wife and I become more and more serious in my job and earning money. I have a stretch of unlucky investments but in later years, it was much better . I managed to recover and make some money on my investments. Yeah, then I spend alot of time training May in pursuing her music and dancing.  Days turn to weeks and weeks to months and to years. Now, it is already 25 years after I got married . My activities slowed down alot and now I spend my time building up my health through Yoga and Taichi.  Yes, the activities have changed  but have I change ?

From m experience , No. I am basically the same fellow 25 years ago. My passion, my thinking  and my philosophy in life remained the same. I have grow wiser through experience, listening and reading but the basic me never change. It is funny when I look at my wife and I feel that she never age or change. The basic character remain and for myself, I have never change. The wise old man, Mr Lao is correct. Our basic character will not change over time. The basic is the basic , it just stay with us.

So, our childhood is very important and again, there is a Chinese saying , the first 10 years in our life will determine our character for the next 80 years. The education,l training , influence and experience we gave to a child will determine his basic character which will not change over time.  Believe, a child's education is very important. To know a tree is strong or not, we will need to look at its roots.

Like a 100 meters race, a proper start or kick off from the block will determine whether the runner can hit a sub 10 seconds or not. The start determines the end.  So, folks look at the mirror and you will see the you , 25 years ago.

Namaste.