The Truth About Change
It is a truth that change is difficult. There are many types of change but for the purposes of this discussion we will address only two - the change that we initiate ourselves and secondly, the change that is forced upon us by outside parties, events or others out of our control. In either case, change is never easy. We love the familiarity of routine. It is hard to think of getting out of it. Our routine becomes habit and our habit is comfortable for us for the most part. I read once that routine or habit is a long grave with both sides kicked out. It is a rut. Comfortability does not necessarily mean that the routine or habit we have adopted is a good one. The truth is people enjoy and feel secure in habits even negative ones. So change of any kind is often viewed with a sense of uncertainty or even a sense of foreboding. We do not relish change. Change requires us to engage in something new or different. We recognize in our lives that we need to do some things. We realize that we need to take better care of our health. We need to take care of our future by saving more. We need to take care of our spiritual life by spending more quality time with God. To do all of these things requires a change of habit on our part.
As we age we often cast off things that we feel are holding us back. We often reassess our lives and begin to see it in a different perspective. When we are young, we seldom think of death. We see our lives spread before us and it seems that all the good things we have to wait for. We wait to turn 16 so that we can drive. We must wait until we are 18 to vote. We must wait until we are 21 to drank alcohol. To the young person, waiting is difficult and seems to be endless. In the same way, youth tends to view problems and difficulties as if they will never have an end, when in reality they will pass just as all things do. To the young person, who is impatient to get on with his or her life, the world could not move more slowly. It seems they will never get to experience the change they so long for.
The older person knows that life really roars by like a freight train climbing mountains, spanning bridges, racing through valleys. Like a train, it flies and little is observed because you can't seem to slow it down. The older individual recognizes the passage of time and begins to take time to smell the roses as it were. The change is sudden and swift and often forced upon us by people who insist that they are acting for our good. We spend rush through appointments and our lives become scheduled.
As we age we often cast off things that we feel are holding us back. We often reassess our lives and begin to see it in a different perspective. When we are young, we seldom think of death. We see our lives spread before us and it seems that all the good things we have to wait for. We wait to turn 16 so that we can drive. We must wait until we are 18 to vote. We must wait until we are 21 to drank alcohol. To the young person, waiting is difficult and seems to be endless. In the same way, youth tends to view problems and difficulties as if they will never have an end, when in reality they will pass just as all things do. To the young person, who is impatient to get on with his or her life, the world could not move more slowly. It seems they will never get to experience the change they so long for.
The older person knows that life really roars by like a freight train climbing mountains, spanning bridges, racing through valleys. Like a train, it flies and little is observed because you can't seem to slow it down. The older individual recognizes the passage of time and begins to take time to smell the roses as it were. The change is sudden and swift and often forced upon us by people who insist that they are acting for our good. We spend rush through appointments and our lives become scheduled.
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