Embracing Change
As I await the new year, my thoughts are drawn to the idea of change. Each year I observe people acting like just because the calendar states something different, life will somehow be changed, but that doesn’t make much sense to me. In order for the norm to be disrupted, we must continuously choose to allow change to occur. I used to dread the new year because I don’t naturally like change. I tend to enjoy things about each part of life and the thought of them ending or changing saddens me because it means that I will never get them back. For example, I was still a college student in 2020 and I know that I will not be one during 2021, so I am a bit sad because I know that a part of my life has ended. I tend to want to hold onto the parts of my life that change as tightly as I can. I often fear that the next part will not be as good as my current reality. When I think about change, feelings of dread are stirred in me.
It took me years to learn that change is not always a bad thing. When we embrace change, we can grow in amazing ways. When I entered college, I was ready to change. I looked for opportunities to push myself and found people to push me toward growth. For the first time in my life, I accepted change. I had people around me who would ask me hard questions about the way I was and I took those questions and reflected on them and I learned from them. I learned to ask myself how I could improve constantly and I allowed this reflection to shape me and make me better. As I embraced change, I grew. I am so very thankful for the people around me who challenged me to not settle for just maintaining my status quo because it was comfortable. Once I experienced the benefits of change, I learned to seek it out which just caused me to grow more.
Today, I am facing change once again. I have graduated from college and am trying to figure out what is next in my life. I am currently living at home again and am working as a substitute teacher in my home school district. I am really enjoying this part of my life. I have minimal responsibility with a very flexible schedule. People know me and life is mostly like it was growing up. I am comfortable and everything feels very safe and normal. While I like this a lot, I recognize that it is not the best for me. I know there is no real growth taking place in my life, and I know that in order to grow I need change but this is hard for me to embrace. I like my life the way it is and I want to hold on to it but I know this isn’t my calling. I know that big changes are coming my way in the near future, changes that will foster exponential growth. As I navigate life after college and look for a more permanent job, I will try to keep this in mind. My prayer as I enter into 2021 is that I would allow God to guide me into this next stage of life and that he would help me grow into a man that reflects him more.
I have no idea what 2021 holds for me or for anyone else. I cannot control the change in time but I can embrace the power that the change can have. I can honestly say that I am excited to see how things change in the next 12 months. I am confident that if we make a conscious decision to embrace the changes that are coming our way, we will be amazed by the growth that we will experience. As we enter into 2021, let’s make it a year of pursuing growth.
Happy New Year!
