More thoughts on the subject of change...




I'm continuing to ponder some things I heard in a conversation on Saturday morning. The topic of discussion was "change."



Some folks really enjoy change...they look for change...create change when things become stagnant...they thrive on change.



I've never been one of those folks.



I enjoy routine. That isn't to say that I don't enjoy some amount of change, because I do. But in general, change isn't one of my favorite things. Routine...more often than not, feels secure to me, and stable...and I like security and stability.



I heard someone tell a story on Saturday morning about working with her elderly parents to re-locate to an assisted living facility. The elderly couple committed to move...then backed out...then re-committed to move...then backed out again...and the cycle of indecisive decision-making continued. The reason given by the elderly Mom? Change. She didn't like it, and didn't want it...and she thought that staying in her home of many years could keep change at bay...



A funny thing happened on her way to avoiding change...the Mom's other friends and relatives began to move...or pass away...and suddenly she realized that change was all around her... It's true you know...change is coming at us constantly. Just as surely as the earth must continue to revolve...life, by it's very nature, is moving.



A memory just came to mind of something I used to do with one of my best friends in childhood...in surburban Houston in the 60's, there used to be a delivery truck for Charles' Chips that came down our street to deliver chips to our neighbors...yes, potato chips being delivered, if you can believe that...



One of our childhood thrills was to hop onto the truck and ride a few hundred feet down the street with the Charles' Chips delivery man...a definite thrill ride for this 8 year old girl! Problem was, the thrill was a little too much for me, and I wanted to get off the truck before it actually stopped...and that's how I learned a basic physics lesson about what happens when a body in motion collides with a body not in motion...pain happens when you jump off a moving truck and hit the street.



Likewise, when we try to remain stationary and avoid change in life, we collide with a world that is constantly moving and changing. For life to continue, the earth must keep rotating, and change must keep coming...so I guess I need to learn how to embrace it and keep moving along with whatever change happens along my journey...the trick might be to get in sync with change so that we can enjoy the newness of it all, rather than focusing on that which is old and passing over the horizon.

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