If there’s one thing in life we can count on, it’s that things will change.
We grow older (and hopefully wiser!). We move our residences and locations. We travel the life cycle of life from birth until death with many changes in between.
Our relationships with others take twists and turns. We begin the journey in our first family with parents and siblings. From there we may travel the journey of life as a single woman or move on to making a new family with a partner and eventually have children of our own: many changes, many choices and many unknowns.
We’ll learn and grow and find jobs and professions….and then possibly
change our jobs and professions many times.
Life. Life changes.
How do you feel when reading about these transitions?
How do you feel about change?
Are you filled with excitement and joy at the thought of changes for your life or are you filled with dread and exhaustion?
The message of this article is that CHANGE is good.
Just like each season of the year brings new positive changes in the natural environment and weather, change in our daily lives creates a newness and potential as well. CHANGE is what life is all about.
We all will experience change in life. Sometimes it appears to be amazing. New relationships, jobs, trips, new personal insights and growth are a few examples of such.
Yet, at other times the CHANGE will seem dark and scary. Many of us find change difficult and unsettling.
In my personal life I’ve had plenty of change. I’ve experienced health issues that have changed my daily life. I’ve gone through a difficult divorce that created a new reality for myself and my daughters. Other changes came in the form of financial challenges and the greatest change, through death, the loss of dear loved ones.
So you may be asking:
How can Julie say change is good when the list of life changes for her look pretty dark and dreary?
I’m glad you asked! Honestly at first appearance, most of these life changes were dark and difficult. I’ve experienced quite a long dark night of the soul in my lifetime BUT (and this is a big BUT) in the end, in most cases, through the challenges GREATER LIGHT came through for my life. Greater light in the form of better relationships, better self care practices for myself that I always wanted, but couldn’t find the time to do and in general, a better quality of life with good people.
Your personal journey through life’s changes will be your own. You will learn to navigate through the darker moments as I did and shine with the life CHANGES that make your heart sing.
Let’s turn the focus now to the revealed positive changes in life.
The life cycle will present many a joyous moment for all; births, parties, celebrations, graduations, promotions, weddings and more. These moments create change for everyone involved. Drink up the joy and experience the happiness in that second. The more we enjoy the moment, the less we regret or wish things could have been different.
Enjoy the moment as change is there and is happening.
Some outcomes from positive change can be challenging. As happy as parents are for their offspring to move on, empty nesting is a new experience and takes time to grieve the loss to move on to the bright new future. Getting older is a gift, yet the potential challenges of being elderly are there and need to be faced. More responsibilities may be the outcome of the joyful moments like weddings and births, but the bonus of these gifts are evident. Remember to be gentle with yourself as you go through these life changes and as my Rabbi (Rabbi Nivin) says “When in transition it is normal to under perform.” We need not let ourselves be disempowered by confusion and change. Life is all about one step at a time and focusing on the positive aspects of CHANGE.
As you’ve read in the past newsletters I truly believe that our lives don’t have to be out of control and filled with chaotic motion. We can use our Power of Choice to make good decisions, accept what is and move towards our best lives with confidence.
I’ll leave you with the wonderful Serenity Prayer that has helped so many live productive lives:
“G-d, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Here’s to celebrating the glorious notion of CHANGE and to embracing it with open hearts for our best lives.
