Keep the change

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C H A N G E
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People are terrified of change. Change is looked at just like the knife wielding villain in the horror movies. He makes us uncomfortable. He hunts us down mercilessly and we are powerless. We run and he calmly walks behind us with a confident demonic swagger tightly brandishing his shiny blade. We fall down a few times as he nicks at our skin but our every effort is to escape the unknown fate that change has come to deliver.
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Sometimes it just happens. I sit down in front of my computer after the difficult cold journey from my room to downstairs and a flood of ideas just flow from my brain down to my fingertips. Other times I have to shovel through yawns, crust sealed eyes and daily concerns until I get down to the fresh fertile creative soil within. It all depends on the day and the time I went to bed the night before. I talked about this a while ago, balance [The five o five : Monday, October 29, 2007], and it truly does serve as my life philosophy. Balance is an act and as with any other act or activity, the more you work at it the better you become with it. Sounds simple right? Well there's more to it then that.

To achieve balance you have to make some modifications to the way you do things already. These modifications are labeled as compromise and sacrifice. Extremely painful words meant to discourage us from a very simple concept known as change. People are terrified of change. Change is looked at just like the knife wielding villain in the horror movies. He makes us uncomfortable. He hunts us down mercilessly and we are powerless. We run and he calmly walks behind us with a confident demonic swagger tightly brandishing his shiny blade. We fall down a few times as he nicks at our skin but our every effort is to escape the unknown fate that change has come to deliver.

Why must change be the bad guy? Where were we taught this or is it some form of instinctual byproduct that evolution and modernization has yet to erase. Change equals pain in the most simplest terms imaginable). Why would I say that? If you think about it, any time you change something that event usually signifies some sort of growth. Ask any woman who has ever delivered a baby, "What was your experience like," and you may have to endure the slimy details and painful description but in the end most will say it was worth it. The same goes for sports heroes (in a different sense). Lance Armstrong had to go through a lot of changes with his cancer and everything even having to sacrifice a piece of himself to save the rest of himself [ Lance Armstrong : Wikipedia]. For a man its almost too painful to talk about but you understand. Or, what about when you were transitioning from a child to a teenager? Do you remember how a few of those changes brought pain but at the same time pride? Do you remember not knowing or understanding exactly what was happening but knew in some way it was a good thing?

Change equals pain. That's just the way it is. We can run but we can't hide. But boy do we try to hide. Have you seen the variety of dyes, creams, gels, injections, surgery's, exercises, gimmicks, gadgets and strait up crap they have out there to keep us from change (and specifically in this case getting older). We fight hard to preserve our youth as though old age was the worst sin since gluttony [7 deadly sins]. We was away our wrinkles and dye away our gray hairs. We get breast implants and Botox injections. We are willing to deal with the discomfort (or pain) of full on surgery [You Tube:Nip Tuck] before dealing with the small pinches of change.

Some changes are major. Some changes are minor. Some changes are by choice. Some changes are against our will. You can change your mind. You can change your hair style. You can change your clothes. You can change jobs. You can change a light bulb. You can change the world. You can even change your gender if you just feel like that's gonna make you feel better. In the end, however, we can chose whatever it is we want to change but when change finds us we have no choice but to submit.

C H A N G E
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SO next time you see change coming why don't you just give him a chance. He might just be bringing you some good news. He might have that promotion you've been waiting for or that raise that you've been needing. He might be carrying that pretty little girl in his arms while pulling the 4 bed room house of your dreams. He's not a villain; He's an angel. Change, you're the best!
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People always talk about how they are going through some changes. That normally just means they are facing some natural challenge for which they just weren't prepared for. We are deathly afraid of giving up our perceived comfortable reality for some unknown alternative. We are set on losing weight but we don't to endure the long and hard 15 minute a day work out session nor do we want to give up our McDonald's Chicken Nuggets [McDonald's dot com]. We want to get a better job and make more money but we don't to deal with starting over as the new guy in some unfamiliar high rise office jungle. We talk as though we're all for it but we run away as though it was death incarnate when the opportunity arrives.

I guess in the end we really don't want change or at least change that we didn't invite on ourselves. We treat change like an unwanted guest. He does nothing but give, give, give. Sure he takes, just a little, but that little is well worth the gifts he brings with him. But we hate him. He doesn't get the couch because we make him sleep on the floor. He doesn't eat at the dinner table because we don't want our kids to talk to him. He might tell them the truth about our embarrassing secrets. Bobby doesn't know you have dentures. Becky has no clue that you wear a toupee [plasticsurgeons.com]. Change is a low life heathen but don't you just love him?

SO next time you see change coming why don't you just give him a chance. He might just be bringing you some good news. He might have that promotion you've been waiting for or that raise that you've been needing. He might be carrying that pretty little girl in his arms while pulling the 4 bed room house of your dreams. He's not a villain; He's an angel. Change, you're the best!

After thinking about it like that getting out of bed and coming downstairs at 5am doesn't seem like such a terrible undertaking after all. I know eventually its gonna pay off. Either I'll grow incredibly rich (in money) or well off in character. Its a win win. Sometimes it just happened. I'm thankful that it did once again.

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