"I've learned a lot this year.. I learned that things don't always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. I've learned that some broken things stay broken, and I've learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who love you." - Jennifer Weiner
We all go through change in our lives, whether it's at college, a new job, a personal loss, or simply the little challenges we face everyday. If you're lucky enough to go to school in a different area of the country than where you grew up, you probably have a certain appreciation for the struggles of adjustment.
Coming to California from Connecticut was one of the hardest things I've ever done. There were a lot of times I felt I didn't belong, like I would never be truly happy this far from home. Like at any foreign place, I felt alone. It was too much change at once, and I feared I would never be able to conquer it.
It took me a long time to appreciate it for what it was. Change is hard. It's really, really scary. A kind of obstacle you never truly understand until you go through it. But you know what? I don't regret anything.
The only thing that scares me more than change is a life that lacks it. The monotony of consistency is a trap that strips you of creativity, productivity, and having an open mind. What a shame it is, to waste your life in the bounds of a comfort zone.
If we don't learn to adapt to our surroundings, we are doomed. This universe is unpredictable. It will throw you curveballs when you least expect it. The strength you gain through adaptation is the only thing that will save you.
And these are the times – the hard times – when all you want to do is crawl back into our safe haven. Nowhere will make us feel more safe and protected than home. Nowhere. Home is the place we formed our core values, a beacon of familiarity that warms us in a way that's incomparable to anything else.
But to leave that behind enables us to find ourselves outside of our parents, our siblings, our friends, our town. It gives you the opportunity to shed the parts of you that were never really you, and grow the parts that feel the most true--the parts that you treasure most.
Drastic change is, and will always be, one of the hardest things to cope with. Learn to welcome it with open arms. It's a beautiful thing to surprise yourself. Square up to the plate, and hit that curveball out of the park.
