It is absolutely charming when a baby tries to venture forth on feet that do not quite support a chubby body. That baby’s progress is a proof that change is the only constant. We make this observation many times but we do not accept it as true.  Our own lives are an example.  Like that baby, we constantly grow older and one day, as growth or change ceases, we die.  The aging process is inexorable.  We long for stability but face inevitability.

Governments should be stable if continuity of good things is to continue.  There is, however, the problem of the “ins” and the “outs”.  What is status quo is fine for those in power but those who are out of power seek to undermine the status quo and throw the INS out. This process is the enemy of stability.

What lasts a long time wears on you.  I had a cousin who complained that he could not wear out a suit he bought on a trip to England.  This was almost sixty years ago before zippers were adopted over there.  I suppose he wanted change with respect to fly closures. He may have also tired of the color, texture or weave of his English suit.  We like stability in our family life as well as our government.  If we have enough money, we can change our costumes as often as we like.

Life may be pretty serene, filled with sunny days and warmth of summer and the expected change in temperature in winter.  The greatest challenge to stability in day-to-day comfort is the storm, like Hurricane Isabelle.  We welcome soft rain and light snows but extremes throw us off balance.  That baby, when starting to toddle, can be thrown off her stride by the littlest thing. The path she follows is an uncertain one even as she becomes surefooted.

I like the stability of my two feet that work efficiently to keep me upright and balanced.  When my head whirls with vertigo, my stability vanishes.  My health, when stable, makes my world rosy and filled with hope.  When my health fails, like a giant many state blackout, things get out of hand and stability vanishes.

Because we have a fickle response to sameness, we change our wardrobes, our taste in entertainment and our flavor of the moment and we really need stability. We also need change, simply for the sake of change and chaos becomes the challenge of stability.  There is a fine balance and, once again, we need our two feet planted in what is familiar and safe. I vote for stability.