The Winds of Change

‘Sometimes in the winds of change, we find direction’ -Anonymous

Imagine that we are all ships, sailing on the high seas. We aren’t sure exactly where we are going, but every once in a while we make decisions that help make our course a bit clearer. For the most part our sailing is pretty smooth, despite the random pirate attacks, a few mutinies and the rare thunder storm. The storms especially, though rare, are dreaded because they blow the ship completely off course. Try as you might to keep your ship on course, the storm battles against you. It’s naturally stronger and you can’t win.

Thing is, you know that there is a possibility that surrendering to the winds of the storm may be better for your journey; it may help your ship avoid future difficulty and may help your crew develop. But you resist the winds anyway. You resist the winds because giving into them and allowing your ship to be steered off your original plan of direction is downright scary. By doing this you’re putting your entire ship, its crew and its battle system in jeopardy and making it vulnerable. You are scared but you have little choice but to give into the stormy winds. Battling them only makes you weaker, and chances are the new course that you are now being forced to take is much better for your sailing than your old course.

Regardless of if we like it or not, life changes drastically at times. Not all of us are open to change because too often we don’t see the need for it. Change presents itself in different ways in our lives. Sometimes it’s completely drastic to the point where you go to bed in comfort one night and wake up the next morning, look around and you feel completely and totally lost. Other times, change eases in on us and little by little, situations change and we look around us some months down the road and are surprised at how much has changed over time. We have heard it time and time again, the only thing constant in life is change. Though we can do very little about it, we still insist on resisting change.

Now, resisting change is in no way a completely foolish idea. For the most part change is scary, especially when it is drastic, as it seems like succumbing to change would mean shedding everything we knew and diving head first into a deep pool of muddy, murky water. We cannot see the bottom of the pool and though there is a possibility that we can grow and learn from diving in, it is still completely foreign, unknown territory. And so we resist and try everything in our power to stick to our original course of direction. At times, we even opt to exist in denial, somewhere between our old course (which we cannot get back) and our new course (which we are not ready to embrace). The thing is, pretty soon we realize that we have to let go of what was and move into what is.

Embracing change is extremely difficult because with it comes letting go of the old and allowing yourself to feel lost for a while. Most of us like to be in complete control of our lives. We like to know who we are, where we are and where we are going. Therefore, the idea of being lost does not sit very well with us. However, feeling  – and genuinely being – lost is not always a bad thing. Once we are completely honest with ourselves, this period of time can be one of growth. In other words, we can allow ourselves to change with the change.

While we feel lost and confused, as if we are in the middle of the Northern Range, caught between fig trees and a herd of iguanas, some serious self-reflection, discipline and serious attitude alteration can help us embrace the change and be better for it. So while it’s not easy to go with the flow of life and just change with the change that attempts to change us, battling against life’s only constant isn’t wise and it doesn’t exactly help us to grow and mature. Despite the fact that sometimes letting go of the old and embracing change makes us feel lost, at times being lost is just what we need in order to move one step closer to finding our true direction in life.

Photo Credit

Picton Castle Under Full Sail – Wikimedia Creative Commons

Guest Author Bio

Paige-Jennan Andrew
I’m way too excited about life … I can’t exist without paper, pen and God. Writing is my passion … changing my world one day at a time 🙂

I believe in making a difference and leaving your mark everywhere you go!

Don’t Complain … Don’t Compare … Don’t Worry
Live! Love!

Blog / Website: http://pgsoflife.blogspot.com/

Recent Guest Author Articles:

• Lucky To Be Me
• 3 of Today's Most Inspiring Interior Designers
• How 3D printing will change our lives
• How Folks Stay Together for Over Forty Years, Like my Wife and I
• Winning the Struggle With Exercise: What Made the Difference for Me