We all know the argument: “I’d love to change, but…”
It rolls off tongues as easily as any old habit we no longer notice. A dean once told his university audience that he couldn’t transform teacher training because schools “out there” weren’t changing either. Not one person challenged him. The silence was deafening, proof that even the brightest institutions can drift into ruts where excuses replace innovation.
A Clarion Call for Peace, and Resistance to War
Let’s say we stand at a crossroads of remembrance and renewal. Each year, we honor the extraordinary courage of soldiers who laid down their lives in war, and rightly so. Their sacrifice deserves the deepest reverence. Yet true remembrance also calls us to prevent the suffering they endured from repeating.
That is why I can no longer wear a poppy without also adding a symbol of peace, a dove carrying an olive branch. My intent is not rebellion, but reverence. To me, the poppy alone speaks of loss. The peace symbol beside it speaks of learning. Together, they honor both the courage to defend and the courage to transform.
We must no longer fear the quiet backlash that follows when we stand for robust peace. War, for all its valor, does not deliver peace practices as its end result. Only compassion, care, and courageous communication can do that.
Let us remember the fallen not only by mourning their deaths, but by changing our ways of living. Let the poppy and the dove rise together, symbols of remembrance and resolve, so that peace may become not a fragile hope, but a practiced art, and the most powerful negotiation of all.
The same pattern echoes in workplaces, families, and even our own minds.
Universities claim they can’t innovate because schools expect them to stay the same.
Schools claim they can’t move forward because universities keep looking backward.
Leaders hesitate to shift culture because “people aren’t ready.”
People resist new directions because cynics will criticize or old fears will reappear.
And so, a case against change seems so… reasonable.
Until we remember that stagnation is not safety, it’s slow decline.
Resistance or Renewal? The Mind’s Crossroads
The human brain was never designed for sameness.
Neuroscience shows that every time we risk something new, our brain fires up neural pathways that literally reshape its structure. This miracle of plasticity is the mind’s way of saying, “I was made to grow.” Yet the same research shows that when we cling to old routines, our neural pathways dull, and creativity fades.
In the MITA Growth Mindset model, this is the tension between EXPECT and MOVE between believing that something better is possible and taking the risk to step toward it.
Those who resist change often freeze at the edge of EXPECT.
They can imagine better, but they do not move. They fear loss, judgment, or uncertainty more than they crave discovery.
Those who embrace growth, however, learn to dance with discomfort.
They step forward anyway, small steps, sometimes shaky ones, but each step releases new serotonin, fuels confidence, and strengthens resilience.
Examples of Resistance vs. Growth
A teacher continues to lecture from yellowed notes because “students won’t listen otherwise.”
Meanwhile, another teacher invites students to co-create lessons, and suddenly engagement soars.
A leader clings to old hierarchies because “that’s how success works here.”
Meanwhile, another leader opens space for questions and curiosity and innovation blooms where fear once ruled.
A retiree insists, “It’s too late for me to learn technology.”
Meanwhile, another senior takes an online art class, starts painting again, and rewires joy.
The difference is not age, position, or IQ, it’s mindset.
One lives by “I can’t because…”
The other lives by “What if…?”
The MITA Way: Rewiring for Growth
The MITA Growth Mindset invites us to move through five grace-fueled steps that ignite both courage and curiosity:
QUESTION. Replace “I can’t” with “What if I tried?”
Curiosity stimulates dopamine, opening the brain’s reward circuits to possibility.
TARGET. Choose one small, clear direction.
Even micro-goals rewire motivation and sustain momentum.
EXPECT. Anticipate growth, not perfection.
Hope and expectancy release serotonin, soothing anxiety and anchoring trust.
MOVE. Act. However imperfectly.
Motion reshapes the brain faster than intention ever will.
REFLECT. Celebrate what worked, learn from what didn’t, and start again.
Reflection consolidates memory, deepens neural integration, and grows wisdom.
This is how grace and neuroscience meet, not as theory, but as practice. Every “What if?” becomes a sacred invitation to awaken new neural patterns, and new hope.
From Fear of Change to Love of Growth
In a world that glorifies busyness but fears transformation, the greatest rebellion is to grow with grace. Change is not about discarding the past, it’s about repatterning it into wisdom. When we shift from defending our routines to discovering new ways of thinking, our brains and our lives light up.
Growth-minded people don’t fear mistakes; they harvest them.
They don’t cling to comfort; they create meaning.
They don’t resist change; they reframe it as renewal.
So today, let’s pause at the edge of our next “I can’t.”
Let’s ask, What if we could?
Watch our mind stretch, our neurons spark, and our courage expand.
Because growth isn’t what happens to us.
It’s what happens through us, when grace meets curiosity and turns fear into freedom.