I watch a documentary featuring four young convicts who commit murder as teenagers and are sentenced to life in prison with no possibility for parole. I am struck by the dignity and composure they exhibit during the interview.
Each turns to their inner life and discovers a desire to make something of themselves. Progress does not come in a flash, they admit. Years pass before they stop rationalizing and blaming others to assume responsibility for themselves.
One young man breaks into sobs recounting how badly he hurt his parents. He says he would give anything to go back and make different choices; dedicates his remaining life to living in a way that honors his innocent victim.
Another reads the Bible and, from its teachings, chooses a personal attribute he wants to change. “I work it and work it and work it until I make a change,” he said, “then I move onto the next thing and work that.” His accomplice-in-crime still blames others, he said, losing the opportunity to grow.
I once heard a speaker define ‘change’ and ‘transformation’ as distinct from each other. Change is to improve and strengthen attributes one already has, he said. Transformation is to become what one has never been before.
Like the young convicts … or fish that leave water to walk.
Who truly knows the value of individual effort? I have come to understand unwanted hardship is not meant to pull me down, but pull me forward.
Life asks me to give completely and without reservation. How I respond ushers in change and transformation—or mere superficiality. In this light, I recognize my choices and commitments serve the emergence of an unknown, unimagined, future—not for myself alone, but for all the world.