Change

When I was in high school I was friends with a brilliant young man who wrote a sonnet in my senior yearbook; here is an excerpt:

"Before the last tear falls away
A final word I'd like to give.
So take my thoughts and from this day
Fly forward and in bliss do live....

To win the war 'gainst pain and strife
Accept CHANGE as a way of life."

I much prefer the mantra, "Change is bad. Change is bad. Change is bad..."

Change is hard for me. Perhaps it is the Libra in me that doesn't like my scales to be thrown out of balance. I do understand that change is necessary in life, but it seems like things just change too fast! New neighborhoods and shopping centers pop up overnight, changing the landscape of the town I grew up in so fast I can barely keep up. Stores where I regularly shop remodel and move everything around so I go in and am immediately lost. My children are growing up much too fast - and I love who they are becoming, but I miss those baby days, too. Couldn't I have just had a little bit longer? And my body is changing. Bubba's Mom always told me it would when I got to be about this age (I think I can hear her snickering). Nothing drastic, mind you. But things are shifting, wrinkling, pooching. Why can't I just stay the way I have always looked? I liked my 24-year-old body!!

Things change at Hubby's work - not always for the better. Things change at our church - puts everyone in a tailspin. But change is necessary for growth, and if you're not growing, you are dying. I may not embrace change, but I must accept it.

But why does it always have to be so scary?