building character based on temporary changes is like building castles made of sand and pretending their concrete. they sift, they collapse; that’s their fate.

i think permenant positive changes, the kind that everyone aspires to achieve, are the biggest sign of personal growth, or of any growth at all for that matter. on the other hand, constant temporary changes are a sign of instability.

EXactLY!

i think permenant positive changes, the kind that everyone aspires to achieve, are the biggest sign of personal growth, or of any growth at all for that matter. on the other hand, constant temporary changes are a sign of instability.

Shaden: “love makes us change even if temporarily” I was talking about permanent changes. also, i think influence is highly overrated in these cases. permanent change usually requires the summoning of a will power that is beyond the casual influence of another person; it comes from inside.

as far as permanent change comes, i dont see another catalyst powerful enough than fear. emphasis on catalyst.

happy New Year to you too

But I don’t think that only fear can make us change, love makes us change even if temporarily. But reason and wisdom make smart people change too. People need a good reason to change, of course “a good reason” means different things to different people. But as far as addiction goes, it’s not as simple as having a good reason, addicts are sick people who need help, who need interference and most of the times they need to be forced into a rehab of some sort. I just think it’s not fair to say that addicts are merely people who refuse to change or even worse, judging them by saying they’ll never change.

Happy new year Nas

i think religion and converting is a special case here, maybe even a cause for exception given the nature of it. however, granting the premise, i would have to say even those who seek out another religion are looking for something along the lines of salvation, and a great deal of that stems from fear. there is obviously no denying that religion, especially Islam which calls for absolute submission, is the art of worshiping through fear and love; sometimes even simultaneously. but sometimes i fell the human instinct is to revert to the emotion which carries more meaning. in other words, do most worship out of their love and desire for heaven, or out of fear of hell? it is a mix of both but i think there is a naturally occurring emphasis on the latter. hence my conclusion that fear is a much more potent catalyst than anything else could ever be.

Nas: If you want to see people who have really turned over a new leaf, look no further than “reverts” to Islam - at least those who take their conversion seriously.

the kinds of changes i speak of are permanent life-altering ones. in all liklihood, the person sometimes changes 180 degrees. and in those, i dont think anything can inspire that type of…permanent revolution…more than fear.

and on some level, i think we’re all aware of it. whether we are or not.