By James Chase

When I first learned about the Laws of the Universe, the Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy was the one that gave me the most heartburn.

“Perpetual transmutation”? I had never heard those two words put together before—and it threw me off. Even when I heard the standard explanation—“Energy is moving into form, through form, and back to form”—it still didn’t click. Those two big words kept me from seeing something that was actually quite simple.

I first went to the dictionary and defined perpetual and transmutation.

Perpetual means continuous, enduring, or constant.
Transmutation is simply the process of changing from one substance or form into another.

When I put those two definitions together, the Law finally made sense to me. I started calling it something that felt more natural:

The Law of Constant Change.

And that name helped everything fall into place.

The truth is, everything is always changing. That’s not just a metaphysical idea—it’s real and personal. My life has changed over time, shaped first by my parents, then by my education, my interactions, my faith, my challenges, and my choices. Who I was in 1960 is vastly different from who I am today. And who I am today will continue to shift into the person I’m still becoming.

Let me give you an example.

Since I was very young, I was drawn to teaching. I had wonderful teachers, and I wanted to be like them. I participated in church and school programs, always ready to volunteer. It seemed to come naturally—like I was wired to be a teacher.

But then came the teasing. Some of my peers made fun of me for volunteering so much. And as it often does, that teasing started to sink in. I began to pull back. I stopped raising my hand as much. That dream of being a teacher slowly slipped away—not because I stopped caring, but because I started believing it wasn’t “cool.”

For a while, I forgot that part of myself entirely.

But when I eventually left that environment—away from the voices that shamed me for wanting to serve—the desire came back. It had never really left. It was just buried.

I had to fight to bring it back to the surface. I had to consciously choose to keep my eyes on that goal. It didn’t happen overnight, but step by step, I got there.

Today, I am a college professor, an author, and a speaker.

And the lesson I learned is this:

If I want to become a better version of myself, I need to get clear on who I want to be—and then keep walking toward that vision, no matter how long it takes or how much I might shift along the way.

That’s what the Law of Constant Change is all about. Life is always moving. We are always becoming. The question is, are we choosing the direction of that change—or letting it happen by default?

You can choose. And when you do, transformation becomes not just possible—but inevitable.

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