"I wish everything could be the way that it was."
You might have found this phrase spinning through your mind lately. As we near the end of August, there truly is a season of change coming our way. It's the beginning of a new school year. Maybe you're starting at a new school and meeting new people. Maybe you're moving. Or maybe you're going through a breakup, losing a job, or any other type of stressful change. "I wish everything could be the way that it was" might be the anthem playing persistently across your life.
Change is scary. It means new territory; unfamiliar ground to cover. It means journeying into a phase of your life that as of yet, you have no experience in. As we go through change, we're often bogged down by doubtful thoughts of our ability to make it through and emerge victorious on the other side.
But what if we changed, "I wish everything could be the way that it was", to, "Everything is different, and that's okay"? Your perspective on change can be even more powerful than the change itself. Try these thoughts instead:
"This is a new and exciting experience."
"I have an opportunity to learn so much about myself and my surroundings."
"The impact I can have on the place and people around me is monumental."
Change isn't the end of the world. In fact, it's the beginning of a new one. It means that you've reached such a pivotal moment in your life that things simply can't stay the way they were in order to make room for progression. This is where the choice comes in: You can decide to mourn and grieve over the past as long as you want. But eventually, it WILL get in the way of what's coming around the corner. So decide to hold your head high and look at this new chapter with grace and dignity. Be accepting, even welcoming, of the struggles that are presenting themselves. View them as opportunities for growth in your character and fruition of your goals.
Someday, you're going to look back at your life and remember all of the events that brought you to your current position. Are you content to recount all of the choices you made in the face of change as symptoms of denial and hurt? Or are you going to reminisce about the time you took an unfavorable circumstance and used it to your advantage?
Besides, change is more than an inconvenience. It's a sign that things were not meant to stay the way that they were forever, and that's a crucial realization to have. From that moment, you can take what you learned in the most recent phase of life and apply it to the next. All of your experiences add up into one story. Don't discount this part of it just because it's hard to cope with at first.
So no, things are never going to be the way that they were. Your life will forever be morphing, just as you are forever being molded by it. Yes, everything is different.
And that's okay.
Feminism Redefined
