Routines

Life really can throw some curve balls, no? Just when I start thinking things are going well, suddenly I get the urge to try something different. Most can cope with the change go with the flow, with maybe some minor grumblings, but there are others out there in the world that just want to fight it every step of the way, especially when there is no explanation for the change, just that it's happening.

I, sadly, used to be one of these latter people, but I am finding more as I grow older that I have become (and maybe truly always was one but thought the latter was the norm and of course that's what I should be - normal) the previous. Change keeps happening around me and I'm okay with it. In fact I'm the cause of some of the changes and that doesn't frighten me - in fact, it makes me happy. Change is scary at times, but it is rarely for the worst. Change can make things better. It means to transform, to lay aside and abandon for something else. And I would say most people strive to transform themselves into something better - e.g. they want to abandon their fatty self and transform into a thinner person - and so they change their routines - they make changes to their eating patterns - they 'change' clothes and run or walk or work out. These changes are for the good!

But some changes are hard for people to take and accept. Changes in friends and social circles can be a struggle. So many I know are going through these changes and I with them as I am part of them. People are moving or have moved, people are getting new jobs, people are leaving this tight knit to spread out and share their love and gifts with others. It feels like our circles are breaking apart, but I think we must instead realize that our circle isn't breaking, but growing - stretching out to the other sides of the world, it seems, and embracing other circles - we're becoming those magic rings magician's use that are all linked together and form a huge strand - we're like the Olympic Rings - all different colors but all linked together for one common good - we're like a chain that just can't be broken.

Sometimes the chain does break or the link comes free - this does happen - and the decision comes to either fix the broken link or replace it with a new one. It's a struggle and a hard decision to make - sometimes the rest of the chain is dependent on that link - but often the rest of the chain can survive without the link and so it becomes a tough decision.

At times like that all you can do is pray - pray that either the chain stays together or the link is replaced with another strong link.

Wow...I didn't mean for that all to become so distressing. The thing is with all these changes going on, changes in relationships are going to happen as well. It will take a lot of work on everyone's part to stay together. And if one side doesn't want that, sometimes you just have to step back and wait for them to come to you. But trusting that God will keep the relationships as they should be are essential. God is the light and the truth and only through God are we together in the first place.