Musing #3

Don’t Fight It...

Just the word change makes some people nervous. Why is that? What is it about change that causes us to fight it? Change is inevitable. Not one of us can truly prevent change no matter how hard we fight, Change happens. There is just something about change, which we equate with bad things. Change can be good.

I can look back in my life and some of the worst things (I thought at the time) I can remember about changes in my life actually became some of the high moments. Going to a new school –very traumatic at the time, yet after the hating the uniforms and having school on Saturday, I soon learned that my new school had it good points as well. After all having those Saturday classes made the school year shorter. The smaller class size get me a better chance of getting the extra help I needed in my weak areas. APS (Aiken Prep School) even had a “Sports day” where we all competed against each other. My ninth grade year, the Sports Day was the single proudest moment of my childhood. I had never been a super athlete as a child(heck, I was usually the "Last Picked for Kickball") but that day I actually won. My name is forever on the halls of APS as the senior champion for 1985. The school and the winners list goes all the way back to 1919.

Other changes I have readily accepted, even embraced – getting married, getting divorced 9 years later, getting married again, joining the Navy etc. (Speaking of joining the Navy; now that is just asking for change and lots of it!) From boot camp, to the fact that you are transferred from duty station to duty station, every three to five years. If you did not want change then the military is not for you.

Conversely, if you take a closer look at the military as a whole, the structure and schedule you keep is very indicative of a lack of change. Some people embrace the military for just that reason. The traditions and heritage of the Navy are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rigidity (used here to refer to lack of change).

Change is constant and well “ever-changing” (pun-intended). We need to learn to accept change and evolve with the changes, to appreciate the changes we experience every day. Some days we don’t want to change and wish that our little bubble would remain exactly the same but once we have accepted the changes that will inevitability happen in our lives, our lives become richer and more fulfilling all the time. There is no reason to fight the change. We should all embrace change and find out how we can use the changes to enrich and better our own lives.