Change

"The only constant in life is change."

Lately I have been thinking a lot about change, because it seems like my life has changed drastically since I went off to college. Am I okay with that? Sometimes. Does change make me want to get on my knees and cry? At times. Sometimes change can be painful, but it always makes you grow as a person. I'm learning to embrace change instead of fighting it, because fighting change is a losing battle.

"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 into another." - Anatole France

In a way, we do 'die' to one life in order to pass on to the next. It might feel wrong to leave parts of yourself behind, but sometimes the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself... right? When you do leave parts of yourself behind, you can move on and grow into a stronger and more mature person. Essentially we die to our adolescent life in order to move onto being a young adult, and then we go to college (had to lighten the mood a little), and then we die to that part of our life in order to become an adult. Let me say that when I think about death I get a little sad, but this kind of death allows for new 'birth'. I can honestly say that I am glad I died to my younger life, because it would be really creepy for a 5 year old to marry a 20 something year old. That being said, giving up a part of yourself and who you are definitely makes you melancholy at times, but it also helps you grow more into the person that you are meant to be. Sometimes you just need to let go. Let go, in order to grow.  :)

I think that most people probably hate letting go because it's painful... of course, but I'm pretty sure that I'd rather let go and deal with the brief pain than to hold onto something and suffer pain for life. If I had the choice between a broken bone or a broken heart... I would choose the bone, because they heal a heck of a lot faster! Who would choose long term, but not necessarily permanent, pain? Not many I bet. I know too many people who fight life's changes, and that to me is like choosing a broken heart. Ouch! I believe that dealing with pain, instead of harboring it, helps you come out on top.

Part of my fascination with certain environments probably has to do with the constant change and flow of life. In a way, it's soothing for me to experience places where life carries on, because it's a reminder that things can, and do, change in an instant. I could sit and watch the clouds move and transform for hours. The way they shape shift and pass by to reveal new clouds is mesmerizing. Water environments, specifically lakes and oceans, also relieve my frantic mind. From one second to the next, the waves on a lake change and morph from one to the next. The surface changes direction in an instant. Not to mention the air above a lake, it can roll in a storm before you count to three. Nature is particularly comforting, because you are powerless to its constant changes. All you need to do is sit back and relax, and go with the flow.

In the middle of all life's energy is an incredible calm. Just look for it. There it is. Change. The only constant in life.