Don't be afraid of change....

"Change is upon us.  We can choose to see it as frightening and incapacitating or we  can embrace the opportunities and move forward with hope."

Yup, fall is here.  All around my neighborhood the leaves are changing and falling off.  Although I love all the color, I'm always a little sad when fall comes around.  Gone are the sunny days, in comes the moodiness of rain and fog.  But it is beautiful!  I'm trying to not mourn summer so much and to fully embrace fall. It's a work in progress (I'm a sunshine kind of girl).

Let's face it, most of the time we look forward to change like I look forward to fall.  We might see the beauty of it, but we still mourn what was.  We long for the familiar.  We forget how hot the days of summer were, how sweaty and uncomfortable.  Have you ever heard someone talk about the good old days?  I think sometimes hindsight is not really twenty/twenty.  I think instead you look through rose tinted lenses.  

"Old ways won't open new doors."

I once heard a woman say that she wished she had been born back in the old west pioneer days.  She longed for that simpler way of life.  Hmmmmm, really?  I don't.  I will fully admit that I dearly love modern conveniences like electricity, indoor plumbing, heating and A/C.  I completely embrace and love my computer, cell phone, and T.V.  I am also a fan of things like modern medicine, automobiles, and refrigeration.  I have no desire to go back to the days of old.  None.  I like the fact that I can jump on an airplane and within 10 hours be in a totally different country on a completely different continent.   The whole traveling long distances on horseback or by wagon, while trying to hunt for my food and water, has no appeal for me.  What-so-ever!  Ugh!  I'm very grateful that I was born in this time period and in this country.

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

Yet, even as I embrace some of the new things, I find myself fighting some changes.  It's a losing battle.  Some things are going to change whether I want them to or not.  Like, my son is going to grow up.  He will not remain a little boy.  In fact, he hasn't been a little boy for some time now.  Seasons will come and go.  My eyesight will change, my body will change, etc.  Jaguar will keep messing with the body style of it's cars, thus making me less likely to like and buy their cars (that was me being sarcastic, sort of.  Seriously, stop messing with the design! ).  It's just part of the process of life.  

"God never created us to reach one level and then stop.  When you stop learning you stop growing."

"I'm not afraid of change, I'm more afraid of staying the same."

"Change is the essence of life.  Be willing to surrender who you are for what you could become."

"If you want to change you have to be willing to be uncomfortable."

"If it doesn't challenge you is doesn't change you."

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

But, even though I find myself sometimes resisting change, I never, ever, ever, want to stay exactly the same.  I don't want things to always be the same.  How boring life would be if nothing ever changed.  Plus, a lot of the changes I have experienced have, in the end, improved my life.  I've learned something, become a better person, been more fulfilled because of change.  I believe that we all have that underlying desire to change.  I don't know of anyone who would say that they wouldn't want to be a better person.  They may not want to do the work it takes to be a better person, but I believe the desire is in all of us.  

Change means growth, and growth is often uncomfortable.  My son is still growing, and usually I know a growth spurt is about to come because he starts complaining that his joints and bones ache.  They are aching because of the changes taking place in his body.  The aches are not fun, but the results are good.  Growth is a good thing, even if it comes from some painful circumstances.  Growth makes pain worth it.  If all you had was a painful experience, but never grew, that would be frustrating.  I would suggest that if you are going through some painful changes, that you begin to look for ways you can grow and learn from the experience.  

Change is often associated with challenge as well.  Some challenges are harder than others.  But, when challenges are met, change occurs.  Challenges can make you learn something about yourself. They can push you to achieve more than you thought possible.  They can cause you to gain insight about yourself.  Challenges can even solidify faith and belief.  

"If you don't like how things are, change it.  You are not a tree!"

"Accept what you can't change.  Change what you can't accept."

However, I have discovered the best thing about change.  Change can bring empowerment and hope to your life.  A life filled without hope is disheartening.  It's disempowering.  And it's not how we were created to live.  We were created with the freedom to chose.  God gave us free will to chose whether or not we want to change.  I think when you step out in faith and choose to follow God, you are, in essence embracing change.  A change of heart. People think that becoming a God follower is all about loosing your freedom of choice.  I would argue instead, that it is the opposite.  I believe, when you choose God, you are choosing to change yourself  for the better.  You are choosing to add hope and faith and fulfillment to your life.  But, it is a choice and a change that you must make for yourself.  No one can force it on you.  In fact, God doesn't force it upon you.  The power to chose this change in your life lies in your hands.

Change can be scary.  And it can be painful.  But it is going to happen.  The best way I know to deal with change is to try and learn from it and to grow from it. So, in a way, hindsight really is twenty/twenty.  And, although I still may fear some changes, I feel more empowered when I focus on the results rather than on the process.  So, when illness struck my family and brought some painful changes, it was hard.  But, this change helped solidify my trust in God and encouraged me to value the time spend with my loved ones.   When we moved across the U.S. to a new state where we knew no one, the change  brought us new friends, new blessings, and new experiences.  Change can be hard and good at the same time.

So, my continuing challenge for you and for me is to be more reflective about change and how I react to it.  It's a process.  And I'm sure that change will be teaching me new things until the day I die.  So don't be afraid of change.  Instead, embrace what change is teaching you.

I started the blog off with a photo I took the other day while walking through my neighborhood and I'll end with a few more photos of the changing fall leaves.