In Spring Semester of 2004 I took Me 3105: System Dynamics and Controls, or in hindsight, perhaps it took me. The only thing I truly remember about this class is that I could barely understand the professor (shoutout to Dr. Jens Karlsson) and that I barely passed without ever really knowing what I had actually learned or what it was about.

Systems Dynamics and Controls is the study and mathematical modeling of how complex, interconnected physical or technical components change, adapt, and behave over time. Applied to the human condition we realize that we are also a complex model of our own experiences, environment, and inputs that are constantly changing and evolving.

As much as we may like to establish a reliable prediction method of an outcome, the only true constant is change and the ability to adapt to uncertainty and ever changing variables. Holding on to what is, or what was will certainly cause pain and resistance. It is an expensive and brutal lesson that life will continually teach us, but an important one.

The original is priced based on what this class cost me in 2004, but the lesson it taught me has been invaluable. Nothing is certain, everything is always changing, and if we hold on to what was we can never experience what is. If you want a copy of my homework, I’ll hand sign it. May this piece serve as a reminder to keep moving.