Accepting Change

One thing I know for sure is that I have no control, and letting go of that need is a key factor in my happiness.  Change is happening all around us all the time and the only thing we can do is give in. Going with the flow is a characteristic most of us are not born with.  It is normal to resist change. 

I learned to live with change at a very early age.  Family changed. My homes changed. Friends changed. Love changed. As soon as I felt everything was in it’s place, a puzzle piece moved or was lost.  Everything was always changing, and while it’s hard to understand it at a young age, I figured out pretty early in my life that giving into the change is always for the best, because we do not have control anyway.  Sometimes change hurts so much you feel like you won’t survive; sometimes change puts us in a better place.  The older I’ve gotten, the more I have become a fatalist – everything happens for a reason – I am just riding the ride and having faith that the journey I’m on is the one meant for me.

As humans, we are ever-changing.  I am a work in progress each and every single day and every day I’m making a conscious effort to change the attributes that I’m not happy with.  I am not the same person I was 20, 10, 5 or even 1 year ago.  In that spirit, I trust that everyone around me is also changing.  While I used to “write off” those who have hurt me in the past, or offended me, or displayed characteristics I found ugly, I also trust they have the ability to grow and change.  It pleasantly surprises me that I have the openness to forgive and accept.  I don’t expect it, but when it happens, my heart is usually open.  This is a gift I unknowingly gave myself. In that same vein, however, I know it is impossible to make anyone but me change and to expect change in others is wasted time.

Seeing my world with optimistic lenses, I see most change as positive.  I read a great quote recently: “If we don’t change, we don’t grow.  If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”  Being a little uncomfortable sometimes is a good thing; it allows us to grow. Holding onto things in fear of what could be is only holding ourselves hostage to growth.  I’m “simply positive” we all need to give in to change.  It may be unnerving or scary, but we can’t move forward in knowing ourselves, or living with the uncertainties in life, if we won’t accept the inevitable.