But if you'll think about them, I'll consider our time together most productively spent. We all know that modern civilization owes much to the ancient Greeks. As the 20th century draws to a close, it's difficult to single out a Greek thinker who speaks more directly to us than Heraclitus. Nothing endures but change. Just as obviously, if change is our constant, then uncertainty is an inescapable part of our lives.
Uncertainty is unavoidable.
Life is unpredictable. The very essence of life is the unexpected and the unintended, the unanticipated turns that we may metaphorically ascribe to Fate or Destiny or Providence. Therefore, unless we wish to be tossed about like so much flotsam on the waves of inescapable change, we must place ourselves squarely in the midst of change. In other words, risk is commonly thought of as going against the current, taking the hard way against high odds. In a world of constant change, however, a world where Heraclitus said we can never step into the same river twice, taking risks is accepting the flow of change and aligning ourselves with it.