A Change Is Coming 1.3.13

“ There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before. ”

— Willa Cather

Howdy people,

It is time for change.  Change is what the new year is all about, right.  Somehow we all feel that the year changing from one to another means we get opportunities to do things differently.  Well, it is true.  We do have the opportunity to make changes in the New Year.  We also have the same opportunities day in and day out, it is just not as defined globally as the New Year is.  So, because everyone else, for the most part, is doing it why not you?

It is soooo easy to get up and do what you have been doing day in and day out for months and years.  We wake up at the same time, we plan our days the same way, we drink coffee (just say no) at the same place and we take the same routes to work.  In our relationships we have dances that we do, we have ways that we speak to one another (whether it works to the benefit of both or not), we have ways that we connect, we are creatures of routine and habit.  We are also desperately seeking change in so many ways.  The new year provides a starting point for many to usher in the change that they have wanted all year (or for many years) long.  So, we make lists, big lists, with lots of big changes.  Somewhere around March the list is forgotten, if it survived that long.  We think that making that list is enough and that somehow, doing what we have been doing day in and day out, our changes will be supported by magic.

We have to begin with the little things.  Change means getting out of our comfort zone.  Doing things that we don't do regularly.  It means it is going to take support and letting go.  It means you have to give something longer than two months before you decide it doesn't work.  It means you suck it up when you want to give it up.  It means that you won't feel the way you felt when you were doing what had been your habit.  It means doing things differently.

You want to lose weight but you still eat the way you have been eating the past year.  You want to get fit but you won't wake up earlier or take the lunch that belongs to you to get your workout in.  You want to tread lighter on the earth yet you won't look into ways to do that which you haven't done before.  You want to fall in love but you don't really like who you are.  You want to be more successful in your work but you hate your job.  You want your life to be different but you won't actually look at the details of what is or is not working.  You want better friendships but you won't let go of the ones that you are unhappy in.

Something has to give.