As children, we played Hide-and-Seek. As you may recall, there was one kid who was “it” who would close his or her eyes while the other little kids hid. After a count of about ten, the kid who was “it” would yell “ready or not, here I come!” and would search to find the other kids. When s/he did, the first kid to be found (usually hiding behind a bush or a car) would scream and run like crazy. The first player found would take the lead as “it” and start the game all over again.
For some reason that game came to mind as we approach 2022. We think that’s because for us, change can be analogous to the game of “ready or not, here I come!” We can hide and we can scream but, in the end, change finds us.
2022 seems like such a big number. We have had losses and gains in our years. Change can be good, it is hard, it is necessary, scary, and exciting. It is everything and it is inevitable. It seems that change can have a mind of its own. We may hide to try and avoid it but it will find us.
Change by definition is the act of becoming different. It may be part of the search for one’s life’s meaning and purpose. It is the opportunity that allows us to move forward and to make different. Sometimes it is by choice and sometimes not. Our bodies, our minds, our homes, our work, and relationships all change. Even materials change like rust on iron. Change can open doors to new things that we would have otherwise not known existed. Some change is welcome and others not. Change can challenge you to your core. It can make you grateful and it may actually be healing. Change can be full of grief or excitement.
Changes as simple as altering seemingly small things can transform your attitude and cause you to grow. It can move us from our comfort zone and from being less rigid or stagnant. Change is about flexibility and adaptability and can be contagious. For example, if you clean out your closet and let go of those things that either did not fit you physically or emotionally anymore and you donated them, you likely contributed to someone else’s change as well.
Andrea and Maggie embrace change differently. Andrea, when buying a new pair of shoes, likes to “sit” with them for a while until she wears them. She does not want to get them dirty! Maggie, on the other hand, jumps right in. We all embrace change differently. And sometimes the speed of the change is what makes the difference and if it is by choice. In some instances, as with the new shoes, you can regulate the speed of change. In many cases, you cannot. Change is known for helping one find a new self. But change is frequently accompanied by grief as you leave the old behind.
As we breathe, we shed the old and breathe in new life, embracing the future with each breath. From our first steps as a toddler, we began to change and take on the challenge of moving out of our own comfort zone. As children, we were afraid of the dark and, as adults, we see that we too can be afraid of the darkness of the future and the unpredictability of change. That is what makes us human and illustrates that we are not robots.As adults, sometimes even minor changes are good and valuable and only a small deviation one way or another can put us on a different path. It all beats living a “Ground Hog Day” where everything is the same day after day.
Losses in the past two years of family, friends, lifestyle, our freedoms, and political unrest have been huge. CDC studies have shown that these hardships have shortened our life expectancy in the US by one full year. Sleepless nights and endless days of worry and wonder about this new world is not unusual. This has all presented us with a huge challenge which is that of being more flexible and less rigid and be more grateful. It all begs the question, do we remain stuck and allow change to happen around us or do we adapt and change where and what we can. Oh, the wisdom to know the difference.
We have adapted to many changes in our lifetimes. Over the year, we have all probably changed jobs, professions, homes, relationships, and much more. We have survived it all. So ready or not, here it comes. Each second that we are breathing, we are embracing the future. By choice or not, things will change.
It is wise to remember that with the cold, a tree may lose its leaves but keeps it roots. We, too, must shed to grow. Change is an opportunity to grow. As we roll into 2022 screaming, we brace ourselves for future change and accept those that have occurred in our past. Losses and gains in our lives make for constant change. We cope, we embrace, and we roll with it. Because ready or not, we are now too big to hide behind the bushes!
“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” -Viktor E. Frankl
NYE 2021
