Change

"The only constant in life is change." I'm sure most of you have heard this before. We experience small changes every day as part of our regular daily routine but fail to recognise them as change and just go with the flow. When big changes occur that we aren't expecting or wanting we usually perceive them to be negative and unwanted events in our lives. This can be stressful and cause us to feel overwhelmed and even depressed. We can fail to recognise new paths being created and the potential for new beginnings and opportunities. At times we expend more energy trying to keep everything the same while resisting change. The cycle of life requires constant change. The natural flow of life is disrupted if change is not allowed to happen. Endings create new beginnings.

 Just recently I was telling someone about my struggles at work and that I was considering going back to school. I had talked about a couple of career paths, but wasn't sure yet what direction to take. She was excited that I was about to embark on a totally new path in life. She was more excited for me at that moment than I was for myself. At the time I didn't quite share her enthusiasm, but she is absolutely right. It is a new beginning. Exciting and scary at the same time. 

I've been struggling lately with a lot of changes coming at me from all different directions. I'm afraid that I haven't handled them as well as I should have. It just feels like too much all at once. Even though I know change is positive and can bring about some exciting new beginnings, I'm having a hard time making decisions and working out the logistics. I will be off work for the next 3 weeks on a medical leave of absence. The plan is to do some research in order to make some of those decisions, go to the morning Kung Fu classes, check off some items on my to do list, walk with the dog most days and get some rest in between.

Numbers to date

sit ups        19010

push ups     11728

walking      502km

kempo        102

nunchuks    286

AOK           222

Michele Ward