14/04/2026
You open your phone and see a post from your best friend. Except they're not really your best friend anymore, are they? Because you've drifted. The person you once knew at school is different to the person you know today, and if you're honest, you are different too.
When we look back at things, it's easy to marvel at how far things have changed. A relationship we thought would last forever lasted only a few years. The dreams we had in our 20s might seem embarrassing to us in our 30s, and this is why the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that 'no man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.'
Heraclitus argued that everything is in flux. It's quite the paradox, but the only constant is change. The river might look the same, but the water is different. The cells in your body will come and go. Your memories will fade and distort. Everything changes. And yet we view change as a kind of aberration. We cling to our identity, our relationships, and our ideologies as if they are fixed forever. We make rigid life plans and feel guilty when they break. We hold grudges against people who no longer exist, and we feel betrayed when somebody else changes.
But in Heraclitus, there is comfort, because if everything is flux, then change isn't a failure. It's natural. Change and transformation are normal. You, me, and everyone will move on. We will all become someone new. So stop trying to freeze the river. Stop trying to demand that things stay the same, and embrace flux. Because everything and everyone will change.