Thriving Amidst Change

Change: a word comfortable people hate.

Don't move my cheese.

Don't force me to upgrade Windows.

Don't change my Facebook layout.

Please, please, please don't make me take a different way home from work.

For some reason I like the pain of change like the pain of straining muscles during a workout, or the pain of outrageously spicy Claussen pickles.

It burns, but I kinda enjoy it.

Take the last two years of my life, for instance.

2015 - My family and I purchased a home in the city where we were currently living. I became a deacon in the church we were attending, and the pastor of our church at the time resigned. Some of this was in my control, some not; nevertheless, change came.

2016 - My family found out that we have another child on the way! It's a girl, by the way. Shortly thereafter I was offered a new career path in a different state. After accepting, our family moved to a new city/state, to find a new set of friends, a new church, new doctors, new dentists, new veterinarians, new banks, new retirement accounts, and on and on the list goes. Thank goodness we didn't change our cell phone numbers this time!

Needless to say, I've faced some change. I'm not complaining or gloating or commenting at all on the "why" of the change. It's just change. Did I choose most of it? Yes, yes I did.

Do I think that you need to change everything in your life to be cool and keep up with my cool changy-ness? 

No. Absolutely not.

But I think that fear of change can be a serious hindrance to a happy life. I look back on all the change that has occurred in my life, even over the past 10 years; and it's kinda staggering. I've lived in five different states within the USA, had four different "jobs," got married, had two (almost three) children, and even got an iPhone (never was much of an Apple guy).

Has the change helped me? Well, I don't know. That's not really what I'm trying to answer.

But the question I can answer is this: Am I afraid of change?

No.

Was the thought of our most recent move daunting and slightly intimidating? Yes.

Am I overwhelmed slightly by my new career choice? Somewhat.

But at the end of change, there is comfort; even in difficult circumstances. People can be comfortable with all sorts of poor circumstances, as long as they are familiar problems. Take hoarders, for instance. They like the raccoon sewer that coats their floors. "Don't take it away!" they say.

I use a disgusting analogy to stimulate introspection. 

What are you holding on to that makes your life stink? 

What are you holding on to for the simple reason that you're afraid to change it?

Stop calculating the fallout and worrying about the ripples you might cause.

Embrace the fallout. 

Ride the waves. 

Go look for your cheese somewhere else, cause it might be in a better place, like the fridge.

Image credit:
"Who Moved My Cheese?" image: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Moved-My-Cheese-Amazing/dp/0399144463
Claussen spicy pickle image: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Claussen-Hot-Spicy-Pickle-Spears-24-fl-oz/20512760
Hoarder house image: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2104400/I-live-Woman-lived-squalid-mess-cat-human-waste-sobs-Hoarders-team-transforms-home.html