by Ready or not, here comes change. Often, not. Change will grab hold of your life and demand your attention. You cannot avoid it. Not even a sidestep. It wants you, and though you may think that you don’t, you need it too.
People say to “embrace change.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t “embrace” it. It is not my dear friend. No kisses for you. Sorry. However, I have learned to recognize change when it comes to greet me. It’s not exactly “Hello Old Friend,” but more of “Oh, it’s You again.” I can shake hands with it as you would a wayward aunt or uncle who kinda knows you. When it draws me close, I can handle it, though reluctantly.
I will give change this – it breeds new experiences. New perspectives. New wisdom. Change makes you think of things that you never had to think about before. Change makes you walk in new shoes and wonder what it has been like for the many others in the many shoes in the same predicament that you are now facing. Change makes you stop in your tracks and examine your life. Sometimes, it literally takes your breath away.
Change can range from the catastrophic to glorious and everything in between. Death, divorce, abuse, accident, illness. Birth, marriage, romance, glory, renewed health. Jobs, moves. And of course, love. Those are some big ones that you may have met. There are more with each and every one personal to you. Personal to the core.
Change touches our hearts first. My heart reacts with “No, no, NO” or Yes, yes, YES.” I am not complacent when it comes to change. I feel it deeply, and it knocks me off my feet. For hours. Or days. Or weeks. What helps me at these times is to gather support from my trusted posse and to gather as much knowledge as I can from whatever sources are available. Often the greatest help is learning about others who have been through the same experiences. How did they survive? How will you?
And then you decide the next steps. Adjust your attitude. Adjust your thinking. Adjust your life. Reflect. Pray. Add or subtract to your daily routine. Stretch toward regaining wholeness. Recognize your own true light again, and know that it still burns.
