“God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me”. ~ Author Unknown

The wheels of change spin around and around and I have discovered, through the wisdom of my age, an age which I have no control over, that it is a pointless task to try and fight change.

Change is here to stay, whether we like it, or not.

But why would we want to fight change?

Glad you asked! 😉

Change offers us a smorgasbord of new experiences, different perspectives, a fresh new approach, new friends, different seasons, growth and wisdom.

So why are we at times reluctant to accept change? What are we so afraid of?

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” ~Anatole France

It is oh so easy to become so complacent with our circumstances as they currently are that we resist any occurrence of even the slightest change. There are times when resistance can bring stagnation, further leading to boredom with our life’s circumstances.

Subtle changes are prone to creep up on us when we least expect them.

Have you ever felt excitement at watching an old movie, or television show, a favourite ten years ago, only to be disappointed by the rerun? (But I used to love watching it!)

Or sat down at the table to enjoy a plate of your favourite food, the one you always asked your mum to cook for you when you were a teenager, but the taste just isn’t the same? (If mum had cooked it her way, it would have tasted better!)

How about that old jumper, your favourite for the last two winters. You drag it out from the back of the cupboard, in anticipation of the soft woolly fabric against your skin. But it’s gone hard, and worse still, it doesn’t fit right. (Who shrunk my favourite jumper?)

We can make excuses all we like. Or alternately, accept that change is taking place!

“There is no reason why the same man should like the same books at eighteen and forty-eight”. ~  Ezra Pound

I’ll admit it; I can be accused myself of being as guilty as the next, when it comes to resisting change. It’s not easy to change. It’s not easy when you are  forced to reassess a situation. It’s easier to take a look at what used to be, and continue with the old ways of doing things.

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him”. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Here in Australia, during the middle of summer, schools shut down for a month of summer holidays. It is the ideal time to take a break from work if you are able to, and to also take a step back from your life and reassess where you are heading.

The break away from the usual brings clarity of mind.

Questions arise ~

Am I happy with the circumstances of my life?

Do I wish to continue heading in the same direction I have been for the last year?

Are there circumstances, situations or people who I wish to continue along with me, as I prepare my journey into this next year?

Is there anything that I feel has outstayed its welcome in my life and it’s time to part company with it?

Can I change all of the things I wish to change?

Must I accept that some things in my life are here to stay, for a while longer at least?

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it”. ~ Mary Engelbreit

They are your decisions to make. No other person can, or should, try to influence your decisions. It’s your life; your choices.

And just as surely, if people around you are also living through a process of change, you must accept the changes they have chosen for their lives.

The human mind is a powerful instrument. We should all endeavour to use this instrument to its best advantage.

“The birds are moulting.  If only man could moult also – his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions”. ~James Allen

As that metaphoric wheel of life continues to turn, we begin to realise that good can become bad just as easily as bad can become good. My aim for this year is to put in place the changes to bring about the good.

And if things aren’t turning out the way I had hoped for?

Why, I’ll make some more changes, of course! 😉

“After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully.  After five years, look at it with suspicion.  And after ten years, throw it away and start all over”. ~ Alfred Edward Perlman, New York Times, 3 July 1958

(Photo from Google Images)