The Joy of Change

The change we experienced in June when we moved from Southwest, Ohio, to the Western Slope was a definite change.  And the change has been good.  In fact, I love change!

From changing the furniture around, to changing my wardrobe from season to season, to changing my menu (yes, some foods are winter ONLY foods!).  I can honestly say I am never bored—I can always make a change somewhere in my life. I enjoy trying new things, experiencing and seeing things that I have never seen before, and traveling to places that are new and exciting. Not happy? Change something.

Several years ago I saw an awesome video (short) about changing your words to change your life.  A blind man was sitting on a street corner with a basket and a sign that said, “I need money” or something to that effect.  No one paid him any attention and just walked by.  Then a young lady stopped, saw that he was blind and changed his sign.  She wrote, “I am blind. Please help.” 

Suddenly people reached into their pockets and pulled out their change and even their paper money.  At the end of the video it said, “Change your words, change your world.”  I have never forgotten that phrase and find it so true. Sometimes it is the words I speak to others: friends, family members or acquaintances. Sometimes it is the words I speak to myself. In all cases, changing my words changes the outcome of the relationship and situation.

Moving across the country has allowed us (husband, son, daughter-in-law and 14-year old granddaughter) to make some subtle changes, and some drastic changes.  People here are probably more friendly. I have changed from only waving to people I know, to waving to everyone on my street, or even those who have vehicles that look like someone who lives on my street! Maybe it is me who has become more friendly.

I have changed from “hurrying” to and from, to traveling a lot slower just to see how many deer I can count on my way.  I could recite the details of my trips to town in Ohio from our small community to the grocery store, without thinking about it.  Here, I realize that from day to day, everything changes! The way the sun casts shadows on the mountains through the clouds, the blueness of the sky, the colors of the mesa from green to gold to brown and now covered in white. I no longer take the familiarity of my trips for granted because it is always changing.

For me, change is good. Change is new. For some, change over the last two-and-a-half years has been heartbreaking, sad, filled with grief. Lives and relationships have been forever lost.  For them, change has not been good, and I am sorry for that. Life is full of changes.

Each day is a new day; a day to accept the changes in our lives and move forward to the next 24 hours, experiencing the sunlight or rain, or snow or deer, or waves from cars whose drivers you do not know.  Sometimes it is the conversation and words we speak to ourselves that matter the most.                Change your words, change your world.