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What is constant in life is change

When one enters the work force in our 20's, we're full of energy and excitement, we tend to take on new assignments with enthusiasm perhaps a little hastily because we want to get noticed and rewarded for our efforts.

In our 30's we still have lots of energy but we are smarter as we gain experience.

In our 40's, we may slow down a bit, but in order to keep our job we still make sure we are on top of the game. . . .

At 50 we've become fully experienced in our profession and hopefully in life too, though acutely aware of our limitations. This is the age when we start to realize that time has passed far too quickly and recognize the changes in the world. Obviously most of us in our youth were far too preoccupied with ourselves, that we didn't realize the world was changing around us. As we get older, we slow down and suddenly become cognizant of the changes and ask why things aren't the same as they used to be in our youth. . . .

Our world is a large and complicated place. So large, it is impossible to stay on top of all of the changes going on all the time, in spite the news media.

Changes come at us from all directions: politics, science and technology, the arts, competition, fashion, customs, public opinion, social issues, international affairs, and a wide range of changing laws, rules and regulations. However, change is so slow, it is almost transparent and if we become distracted, like most of us do, we just don't see it. It's only after a few decades do the changes become vividly clear, and by then, it is usually too late to do anything about them. The fact is we should have been paying attention earlier on. Suddenly we realize people are acting and looking different, particularly the next generation, that social and moral norms are different, and the world has changed.

So why do we get upset?  I think it is simply because we have suddenly realized the world is different and the status quo is unlike what we remembered from our youth. And we just don't like it.. . .  . . .


I think the above statements are very true...............that is why it is good to escape to the The Lottie.   ;D

Ay you lot..........Is this a boring post...........I can see you are underwhelmed..............LOL   ;D

Betula sorry I missed this excellent post earlier!

I'm just a grumpy old man nowadays except when I'm here and on the lottie!  :)

QuoteI'm just a grumpy old man nowadays

I'll vouch for that Flighty  ;D  ;D  ;D

Quote from: betula on October 30, 2009, 08:43:53
What is constant in life is change



So why do we get upset?  I think it is simply because we have suddenly realized the world is different and the status quo is unlike what we remembered from our youth. And we just don't like it.. . .  . . .

Ya telling me... :o :o Francis Rossi as lost the ponytail. ;D ;D    ;)

Bah, Humbug!  ;D

Allotment life has changed considerably over the last five years, and it could change quite considerably more over the next ten, and it's that creeping, bearly perceptible nature of the change that is the threat.  It wasn't many years ago that the threat to our allotments was the unsustainability of a handful of tenants on a site worth millions as a housing development.  We're secure now in our sites heaving with newly enthused allotmenteers, but are we banking anything in this boom-time?

What happens when the ecconomy picks up next year?  Have we turned that new generation of allotmenteers into lifelong gardeners, or will they abandon their 2-pole plots for the convenience of Organic produce at Waitrose when there are more exciting demands on their precious leisure time and allotmenteering is as much in vogue as the space hopper and fondu?

Right now allotmenteering is a fad.  Ok, so not for all of us, but for many.  It's popularity has been driven by some food-scares and TV celebrity chefs, but what will sustain that interest?  I doubt that many people are giving it much thought right now when allotment waiting lists are ten years long, but it's now that we should be building sustainable communities of allotmenteers, now when the enthusiasm is there, not if five years time when the decline is irreversible.

It's the culture of the allotment movement that is our greatest asset.  The inclusiveness, the generosity, the freedom.  All of that is under threat if the change is too rapid.  I hugely welcome the current interest in the movement, and I'm really pleased that so many people are discovering the many pleasures that I get from my allotment.  And that's the point, that the allotment movement is not just about growing stuff, and we need to make an effort to preserve that culture.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, as they say in Peckham.

Many people do it for the exercise and satisfaction though... eg I could do a days freelance work and buy everything I grow a few times over but where's the fun in that? Also I find things like the gym pretty sould destroying (despite watching the lycra laydees on the treadmills -  drooldrool), and that's much more expensive than the lottie to boot.

Even if the economy picks up, which I'm pretty sure won't happen in the UK for some time once the government stimulus wears off I hope many people will carry on through the enjoyment and social side of it.

my tuppence worth

I hope that many of those that have discovered the joys of allotments will continue.  Perhaps we need to be proactive in keeping it in the news.   But the movement also needs to adapt to change. 

I think that the allotment movement will be able to help provide solutions to predicted food shortages.  Many allotmenteers get huge amounts of food from a very small space.  The allotment movement should be at the centre of the change. 

I see a field of corn for animal feed and I think: but you could also have got a crop of beans and squashes off the same field.