Change is hard. That’s just all there is to it! No change is easy. At least not for me. But lately it seems like there have been so many changes in my life that I’ve just had to pull myself up by my boot straps and go on. The accident caused most of those changes! It’s amazing how something that happened in probably less than 30 seconds can cause such great upheaval in a persons life. But it does. And there isn’t a darn thing that can be done about it. Change is inevitable not just in my life at this time, but in everyone’s life.
In the last five years, or more specifically even in the last month and a half, I could have dug my heels in and said no more. I have faced more change in a short time than most face in a lifetime. And don’t get me wrong many times I have wallowed and cried and said that I refused to deal with whatever was happening. But like we all know this doesn’t help!!! It may feel like in the moment that crying and wallowing helps but it doesn’t in the long run!!! I’ve learned the hard way that when we are faced with change and adversity we just have to face it head on. Look it in the face and deal with what’s at hand.
However, it’s not just me that is going through or facing change. As I look at the lives of those around me many of them are dealing with big change as well. Whether it be a new spouse, a new baby, a new house, a new job etc. A lot of them are dealing with some change. My sister is the best example of life altering change. She is finishing up her highschool career. And she has started to experience the “lasts.” Like for instance she had her LAST home game on her highschool softball team. She will never play another home game there. And today was their LAST practice. Outwardly she is handling these things like a champ. While inwardly there has to be some emotion there surrounding these events. Lasts are hard but we have to have the last of something before we can have the first of the next chapter in our lives.
Throughout life like I said before change is inevitable. It’s going to happen. Sometimes it’s for the best and sometimes it just has to happen. But it’s all in how we handle the change that really makes the difference. If we are able to walk through change with grace and our head held high things will generally turn out better for us in the long run. On the flip side if we wallow, and cry and drag our feet change is going to be hard. Not only for the person dealing with the change primarily but for all those around them. And no one wants to be around that person who is stuck in the past refusing to let go of things that cannot be changed.
In the end it’s all about how we focus our energy. Do we focus on the future or continue to be stuck in the past? Can we let go of the old and open the gates for whatever new might be on its way into our lives? Those are the essential issues with change. We as a society seem to have a problem letting go of the past and moving forward. We seem to want to focus on what has happened before rather than thinking about what we do now and how it will effect the future. Not just for us living now but also for those coming behind us! Socrates said it best, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the the old, but on building the new.”
