When I was really young I hated change. I liked my routine, I liked my surroundings, I liked the traditions. I did not like change because I wanted everything to stay the same and to stay the way I liked it. However, I had to learn a hard lesson in 1995-1996, the only thing certain in life is change.

In 1995 my parents made the decision that we would be moving. We were not moving from state to state, rather across to the other side of the city. That may not seem to be a big deal to you, but I was being moved out of my “bubble” and into a place that was very unfamiliar to me. I was going to have to make new friends, go to a new school not knowing anyone. I resisted this change as hard as I could, however I had absolutely no control over the situation.

When I arrived to my new home, I actually liked it, but I was still scared to death of starting a new school. I would be in 8th grade all by myself, and then the very next year I would be a freshman in high school! I had a decision to make right then and there. I was either going crawl in my shell and hide, or I was going to step out on nothing and see what was there. I decided to dive head first into this new endeavor and make the best out of this new challenge. I decided I would run for student government my first semester at my new school. Although the odds were against me, and although I didn’t win the election, people knew my name.

That move across the city proved to be the best thing that could have happened to me. It opened my heart and my mind to new opportunities. It took me out of my safe “bubble” and forced me to grow and learn new things. Five years later I went to college (close to home), but two years into college I decided to move to Nashville where once again I would be all alone in a new city and a new school.

Now change doesn’t always come in the form of moving to a new location. Sometimes it comes in more unpleasant forms, sometimes the change is welcomed. Change is the only inevitable part of life. It is hard to embrace change when you loose someone or something that is important to you, but that change is going to happen. As the song Everything Must Change says:

“Everything must change
nothing stays the same
everyone will change
no one, no one stays the same


the young become the old
and mysteries do unfold
for that's the way of time
no one, and nothing goes unchanged


there are not many things in life one can be sure of
except rain comes from the clouds
sun lights up the sky
hummingbirds fly


winter turns to spring
a wounded heart will heal
oh but never much too soon
no one, and nothing goes unchanged


The young become the old
and mysteries do unfold
for that's the way of time
no one, and nothing stays unchanged.”

Change will come, but it is how you react to that will define your life and who you are. “The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. . .we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you. . .we are in charge of our Attitudes.” –Charles R. Swindoll

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post! I always hated change too, but sometimes it's necessary and it's always going to happen whether I like it or not.