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Monday, January 31, 2011

Always Reaching For More



Change, and not the kind that jingles in your pocket, is a fact of life. When children grow they change. Baby teeth fall out as adult teeth push their way through. High voices crack, hatching the full bodied alto. Smooth complexions erupt, and youthful faces wither. Change is the blood of life. Without it we would stagnate and die.

Unfortunately life is a grab bag, so you never know what type of change you’re going to get. You may pull some of the more sought after changes out of the bag, like wealth, happiness, or love. Or you may get a few booby prizes like, sickness, loneliness, or even death.

Luckily for us life seems to balance itself out, with the majority of events leaning toward the mundane. But don’t be fooled by the benign, and often friendly, beckoning of the mundane, because living in the prosaic routine of the humdrum is like walking though a labyrinth with all the exits sealed off. You could walk around forever and never get anywhere, depleting vital energy and wasting time….sometimes years.

Change may yank you back by the hair, landing you on your stunned ass, as spectators gather to gawk. Or it may lift you onto a pedestal so you can see for miles ahead…and everyone can see you.

Sometimes we plan a change, working toward goals, saving, pushing, and then at the end of the journey, after we’ve obtained our goal, we grow bored once again and search for more changes. We’re a hungry species, always reaching forward, and yearning for more.

I sometimes grow excited at the prospect of change. Just knowing that anything could happen at any time thrills me. But it also terrifies me because change is often random and much larger than I expected; like losing altitude and freefalling from 40,000 feet, and knowing that you’re going to die unless the pilot can regain control of the aircraft….which he usually does.

We are explorers and sojourners here whose visit is short. Within each soul is a voice calling us to do something permanent and magnificent. Perhaps, inviting change is the first step to obtaining that goal. It may require all the courage you can muster, but do it anyway.

I’m going to leave you with three things that I have learned from life thus far. Chew on them for a while before you try swallowing them.

1. Life is not for cowards.
2. Hiding will not prevent change from overtaking you.
3. When taking bold steps forward, the road usually rises to meet you.

8 comments:

Shreya said...

Change is the only permanent thing in this world. We keep on dying for permanent attachments, but we forget that everything here is temporary. Somewhat same thing was written by "Jiddu Krishnamutri" in his book: " On Living & Dying". Its a must read. like your post :) Nice write-up :) God bless :)
P.S. missed your posts in these few days :)

sulekkha said...

Chewing vigorously and swallowing :) Excellent article about life. Love the 1st one, life is not for cowards.

Anonymous said...

Change is my friend... but the funny thing is.. it has its way of surprising me always!

JANU said...

Great post...chewed on your three things and digested them well. Most of us have our own perspective of life, I was sort of a coward for most of my life....:)

Anonymous said...

Strange, but even I wrote a post on change a few months back, something similar..
and I mentioned something about a butterfly too. :) here: punamjr.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/strength/

"Butterflies represent transformation. They evolve from a caterpillar into a beautiful, wondrous being – much like a woman finding her inner goddess; her personal power. – Nicole Graham"

Liked your take on it too.
"Hiding will not prevent change from overtaking you." Very true.. one needs to know how to face it head on. :)

Larry Lewis said...

Change is one of those strange things. We to a point are scared of change, it frightens us, yet every day we yearn for things to change. To me it is one of our basic needs, we seek personal growth, and to achieve this we need to make changes in our selves which will then manifest change in our outerworld.

Healing Morning said...

Oh my, what an excellent topic for discussion! I fall into the kicking, screaming, resisting change category on most days. Imagine Bugs Bunny when someone is trying to shove him through a doorway - he grabs on with all four paws to the door frame and scream his head off, tenaciously clinging and refusing to go through the door. Yep, that's me, deep inside. Outwardly, you wouldn't recognize such seething turmoil is going on, but it's there. I've learned many lessons over a lifetime that I cause myself a lot more angst with all that wailing and gnashing of teeth, so I usually tone it down and give in gracefully to change. Eventually. Most of the time. Okay, not really, but I TRY!!

This third lesson you listed:

"When taking bold steps forward, the road usually rises to meet you."

I love that and know it to be true. And if we're lucky, and extra brave, God/Universe/Spirit tends to provide companionship along that same road so that it's not as scary and lonely. Holding your hand along the way, chickadee! <3

- Dawn

Debra said...

#3 – When taking bold steps forward, the road usually rises to meet you… and I would add two more:
#4 – Begin to weave and God will give the thread
#5 – Jump and the net will appear

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