Change is inevitable in life. We grow up, grow old, and grow out. Most people understand that, and learn to adapt to the subtle changes in life that come upon us. And just as a river’s water is altered by the rocks, and branches, and outcroppings it encounters along the way, we too are affected by those symbolic occurrences in our lives.
Have you ever noticed a twig or leaf get caught behind a rock in a river? It’s stuck there possibly forever. The only way it will move out from behind that rock is if something changes. We often find ourselves metaphorically caught behind a rock in life – and there we sit, waiting on something to change. The problem, just like the stick, is that all the while change is still occurring. The stick will eventually rot and break apart. Can you get the picture?
Just because we refuse to change, doesn’t mean we are immune to changes. How many people do you know whose lives are rotting away because they refuse to take charge of the changes? Somehow we think avoiding change protects us from the fears or the uncomfortable experience we suppose accompanies it. Fans of the TV series Star Trek will remember this classic line; “Resistance is futile.” Really, all that resistance does is guarantee that we miss most of what life was designed to offer us. Daniel Craig wrote, “At some point life starts to pass you by and becomes about avoidance.”
Choosing change is really choosing life. While change can challenge you emotionally, it’s still better than the pain of regret looking back wishing you do it differently. But life is not a trial run. Today is today, and we’ll never get another chance to live this day again. When faced with an opportunity to change, take it. Chose change over regret. Live the kind of life that allows you to look back and say; “wow! what an adventure. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Daily Life Journey 