“Giving Change A Chance” by Kate Sanchez
Spring is almost here. It can be seen in the new growth of green grass and felt in the air, as though it’s something tangible. This time of year is a time of change for many. With a change in season comes shifts in weather, so as I watched the rain pour down last week, over the country that so badly needs it, I was encouraged by the idea of change, and how coping with the unexpected is truly a task that few of us have mastered. Like the rain soaking into the earth, change can come slowly, saturating in as people adjust to the new-found moisture; or it can come quickly, and take over your life like a flood. Either way, it’s inevitable.
What’s most amazing to me is that as I reflect on the past few years, I am well aware and in awe of the fact that it’s by the grace of God and the element of change that I’m in the place I am today. By “place” I don’t necessarily mean physically; but in a good space mentally and emotionally. My heart is full. But things are so very different than they were even three years ago; so much has changed, and now, looking back, I can see all the good that brings. I can also admit that, at the time, change was not always an easy decision to make, or to even accept.
It’s a conundrum to me though; how, as a ranch wife, I’m so guilty of being resistant to change. You’d think that after years of being married to a procrastinating cowboy, I’d be ready for anything. But still, I’m just the opposite. I’m unsure of how many times I’ve been in the middle of a task that gets uprooted because I need to help my husband. Don’t get me wrong, it’s never disappointing to leave behind a pile of laundry that needs to be folded, in exchange for helping gather a few cows, or to saddle a horse and go check weaned calves in the fall, but as always, I seem to get thrown off my idea of what the day was supposed to be.
When was the last time you heard someone say they liked change? Often fighting for the monotony of day-to-day living, people contest it. It’s scary. But rain comes in like change that gives you no choice. It’s unexpected and at times, unforgiving. It’s not a change that one can choose to accept; it just is. And sometimes, that’s the best kind. If you’re anything like me, controlling situations is my forte, but not always feasible. And sometimes, the best things come from situations that I don’t have the option to take the reins on. Rain offers no take-backs. But it does offer a wonderful change in so many situations that causes people to embrace what the future holds. Sometimes we have no control, and that’s what makes it special. At times, hard to swallow, change can be one of the best things in life.
It is one of those things that can bring out the very best in people, or the very worst. I have learned over time how embracing change can be an empowering and enabling thing, but also how easy it is to fight it, and how detrimental that can be, as well. From experience, I have found that the latter of the two can tear you down as quickly as anything I’ve encountered. Meanwhile, acceptance of it, can build you up into a much stronger person unknowingly in what seems like the blink of an eye.
To say that I should lecture anyone about how to be more open to change would be kind of crazy. I still resist it, even when I think there could be some good coming from the new. Change is simply something that happens to us all, and is cause for some adjustment. Embrace it like the overdue rainfall. Be grateful for the opportunity to experience what it brings to your world; you certainly have no idea where you would be or might end up if it hadn’t happened.
