I know that the world is always changing. I am always changing. You are always changing. There is really no such thing as a static or non-changing state of living. Even so, sometimes the changes come so fast that they leave us reeling, grasping for stability, reaching for the familiar.
I grew up in a home where chaos and unexpected change were the norm. While psychologists would say that the home I grew up in was dysfunctional, it prepared me very well for facing times of rapid change. When I was a little girl, one of the few constants in my life was you wouldn't know what would happen at home on any given day. The unexpected was the norm.
So it shouldn't surprise me that in this time of economic tribulation and rapid change, I find a strange bit of familiarity in rolling with unexpected changes. What I learned from it as a child is that "this too shall pass," the sun will rise tomorrow regardless of what has happened today, and life goes on. I also learned that the harder I struggle against the change – the harder I fight it – the more pain I cause myself. On the other hand, the more I accept the change, the easier it is to adapt quickly and the more I am able to enjoy the unexpected upsides of even the most seemingly negative situations.
My mother taught me that my happiness rests squarely on my own shoulders and how I choose to view the world, the people around me, and the changes that happened in my life. I can waste time fighting the change or blaming somebody else for causing the change, or I can dust myself off, enjoy the new view and re-chart my course. For the most part, I choose the latter response - Not because I have no choice, but precisely because I do have a choice. I choose to be happy.
What's your choice?
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