A few words about change

 For this month, with the ending of summer, and the beginning of fall, our topic is “change.”

 

As someone who doesn’t particularly like change (generally speaking) but who’s had to adjust to her fair share of it, here are some random thoughts I have on the topic.  

 

1.     Change is inevitable and it can suck (especially initially) – and especially if the change is not something you wanted. 

 

2.     When change is perceived as a good thing, it can feel exciting and invigorating and nerve-wracking all at once.

 

3.     Change can evoke a myriad of emotions, including fear, anger, joy, relief, anxiety, disappointment, resentment, and guilt (and sometimes those emotions are all in response to the same thing, just at different times).

 

4.     Each change – even welcome ones – accompanies a loss of some sort.   

 

5.     Each change – even unwelcome ones – provides the opportunity for growth (and therefore a gain of some sort). 

 

6.     Change can happen in an instant – sometimes in less than an instant – and can alter the whole trajectory of one’s life, as well as the lives of those we touch (in good ways and in challenging ones).

 

7.     Change can alter our perception, enabling us to see life – or some aspect of it – anew. 

 

8.     Some things that change: weather, our mood or feelings, prices, fashion, the environment, time, circumstances, friendships, relationships, age, the world, technology, trends, nature, people…

 

9.     Change can come as a gift, all wrapped up in a bow, just when we need it. It can also feel like we’ve just been sideswiped by a bus.

 

10.  Some of us welcome change and invite it into their lives. Others fear it.  

 

11.  Change can offer beauty, like the change in seasons, the colors of fall, the blooms of spring; caterpillars to butterflies; seeds to flowers; night sky to sunrise; daylight to starry night… 

 

12.  And just as beautiful, change offers us the opportunity to learn, to question, and to initiate our own changes.