A Season of Change
In the classic Pixar film Monsters, Inc., Randall, one of the movie's villains, boasts to Mike and Sulley that he's going to break the all-time scaring record. When Mike declares that he and Sulley are going to break it first, Randall tells him to listen because the "winds of change" are coming. Although those "winds of change" never come to form for Randall, they do make a cameo in the prequel Monsters University years later (or years earlier, since it is a prequel to the original).
Change. There's just something about that word. Some say change is good, some say change is bad and they don't like it. I tend to be in the latter group, one that prefers the status quo who gets scared by the thought of change. After all, aren't things fine the way they are? Is there really a need to change something that's not broken? I mean, even for people that embrace change it what it means, there still is a tinge of uncertainty associated with it. Change means a complete break from what's being done. Because of that uncertainty that comes with change, it is easy to what to keep things the way they are and even resist change. However, no matter how hard we resist, change is inevitable.
People talk about going through "seasons" all the time - and not just winter, spring, summer, and fall. Heck, in sports, there's a preseason, regular season, postseason, and the offseason. Think about that: even a season that's "off" has its own seasons, For people, there are seasons of happiness, sadness, singleness, thankfulness, and so on. These seasons aren't as defined as fall and summer. Then again, between living in Virginia and Texas, those seasons bounce around in a given week themselves. The seasons we go through though change all the time. Which brings me to the season of change.
A season of change may seem better off than a season of sadness, but it can still be daunting in its own right. Whenever I find myself on the brink of a season of change, I suddenly appreciate where I am a lot more and initially resist change. The idea of things not being the same anymore can overwhelm me. The last time I went through a season of change was about 2 years ago, when I first moved to Houston. As the days in Virginia winded down, I found myself having that initial fear of all the uncertainty ahead and also realizing that everything was about to change. It didn't help that this was moving to a city I wasn't familiar with. As tough as it was to leave Virginia for Houston though, it all truly worked out for the best.
On the day before I left for Houston, I watched the series finale of Boy Meets World. In the series finale, Cory and Topanga mull over Topanga taking an internship in New York City, which means leaving Philadelphia, where they've lived their whole life. Mr. Feeny perfectly describes change to Cory with a flower pot metaphor. When he initially pulled a plan out of its pot, the plant resisted and was hard to get out. The reason why Mr. Feeny moved the flower out of its pot and into his yard was because if he kept the flower where it was, it would stop growing. That's how change can be - we may initially resist at first, but if we don't change, we stop growing. It's amazing how that metaphor perfectly summed up what I was feeling at the time.
For the first time since moving to Houston, I've found myself in another season of change. Last weekend, with the help of my father and some friends from church, I moved in to a new apartment. This week, I will be starting up a new opportunity. Life really does have a way of changing and happening all at once. Change can be hard, as it means saying goodbye to the way things are, something that I've been experiencing. Still, it is exciting to see what changes are unfolding and what God has in store for me moving forward.
To jump back on the Boy Meets World train one more time, there was another episode where Cory was lamenting all the changes going on in his life, Eric, his older brother, profoundly said that it is not the changes that matter but how one reacts to the changes is what matters. How we react to changes in our life is what makes us who we are. We may initially resist change or want to revert back to the way things are when we're on the brink of change, but it is through the changes that we grow. When we do face change, we can think back to the last time we went through major changes and how we may have had similar reservations. And when we look back on that, we can see how much we grew from them, amazed that we ever were afraid or fearful of those changes.
As I find myself in the midst of a season of change, I find myself thankful for all of the people have gotten me to where I am today and for the opportunities that I've had in Houston. I'm excited about the new opportunities that are in store! And this time, one thing is different: the friends that I've made in Houston are still there. Having that community this time around makes all the difference when it comes to change. And no matter how much change does unfold, I can take solace in this saying Yogi Berra would love: "the more things change, the more things stay the same". Here's to a season a change and all that's to come!
Change. There's just something about that word. Some say change is good, some say change is bad and they don't like it. I tend to be in the latter group, one that prefers the status quo who gets scared by the thought of change. After all, aren't things fine the way they are? Is there really a need to change something that's not broken? I mean, even for people that embrace change it what it means, there still is a tinge of uncertainty associated with it. Change means a complete break from what's being done. Because of that uncertainty that comes with change, it is easy to what to keep things the way they are and even resist change. However, no matter how hard we resist, change is inevitable.
People talk about going through "seasons" all the time - and not just winter, spring, summer, and fall. Heck, in sports, there's a preseason, regular season, postseason, and the offseason. Think about that: even a season that's "off" has its own seasons, For people, there are seasons of happiness, sadness, singleness, thankfulness, and so on. These seasons aren't as defined as fall and summer. Then again, between living in Virginia and Texas, those seasons bounce around in a given week themselves. The seasons we go through though change all the time. Which brings me to the season of change.
A season of change may seem better off than a season of sadness, but it can still be daunting in its own right. Whenever I find myself on the brink of a season of change, I suddenly appreciate where I am a lot more and initially resist change. The idea of things not being the same anymore can overwhelm me. The last time I went through a season of change was about 2 years ago, when I first moved to Houston. As the days in Virginia winded down, I found myself having that initial fear of all the uncertainty ahead and also realizing that everything was about to change. It didn't help that this was moving to a city I wasn't familiar with. As tough as it was to leave Virginia for Houston though, it all truly worked out for the best.
On the day before I left for Houston, I watched the series finale of Boy Meets World. In the series finale, Cory and Topanga mull over Topanga taking an internship in New York City, which means leaving Philadelphia, where they've lived their whole life. Mr. Feeny perfectly describes change to Cory with a flower pot metaphor. When he initially pulled a plan out of its pot, the plant resisted and was hard to get out. The reason why Mr. Feeny moved the flower out of its pot and into his yard was because if he kept the flower where it was, it would stop growing. That's how change can be - we may initially resist at first, but if we don't change, we stop growing. It's amazing how that metaphor perfectly summed up what I was feeling at the time.
For the first time since moving to Houston, I've found myself in another season of change. Last weekend, with the help of my father and some friends from church, I moved in to a new apartment. This week, I will be starting up a new opportunity. Life really does have a way of changing and happening all at once. Change can be hard, as it means saying goodbye to the way things are, something that I've been experiencing. Still, it is exciting to see what changes are unfolding and what God has in store for me moving forward.
To jump back on the Boy Meets World train one more time, there was another episode where Cory was lamenting all the changes going on in his life, Eric, his older brother, profoundly said that it is not the changes that matter but how one reacts to the changes is what matters. How we react to changes in our life is what makes us who we are. We may initially resist change or want to revert back to the way things are when we're on the brink of change, but it is through the changes that we grow. When we do face change, we can think back to the last time we went through major changes and how we may have had similar reservations. And when we look back on that, we can see how much we grew from them, amazed that we ever were afraid or fearful of those changes.
As I find myself in the midst of a season of change, I find myself thankful for all of the people have gotten me to where I am today and for the opportunities that I've had in Houston. I'm excited about the new opportunities that are in store! And this time, one thing is different: the friends that I've made in Houston are still there. Having that community this time around makes all the difference when it comes to change. And no matter how much change does unfold, I can take solace in this saying Yogi Berra would love: "the more things change, the more things stay the same". Here's to a season a change and all that's to come!
 |
| The more things change, the more things stay the same, like eating cereal for breakfast and wearing pajamas |
Comments
Post a Comment