Change Can Be A Good Thing....
      I have been doing some soul searching this past week. Since I've been laid off of work, I have time to do that now.  Well, I have come to some conclusions.  I really miss studying my Christian Counseling.  I feel like it's really calling me back to it.  Also, that although I am not big on change, change is inevitable.  Change can be good, if we embrass it.
I went through a number of changes in my life over the past four years - everything from quitting smoking to divorce to a new & wonderful relationship with an amazing man to going back to school as well as moving all the way across the country, leaving my entire family behind.  All of this for someone who doesn't handle change well.
      But, change can be a good thing, as all of the above have been.  I can't at this point imagine my life without these changes having occurred.  I am happier than I have ever been in my life.  Are their people I miss? Absolutely!  I had never been away from my mom for more than a month or so in my whole life.  We are very close and know what the other is thinking or going to say all the time.  I wasn't sure how I would handle being apart for so long, but it has gone pretty well.  I miss my grandchildren, they were my heart and soul.  Not that they still aren't but, I have other parts of my life that are important to care about as well, when before it was All about them.  Going back to school again at 50 was a little daunting, but I have done well.  Not that some of it hasn't been difficult, but it has been worth it.  I don't want to even try to think of what my life would be like right now, had I never met this incredible man.  He is my life and breath, he is my night and day.  Every day I think about how lucky I am that he came into my life.
      So, even though I don't like change.  Most people don't.  It has been a good thing. 
We need to remember that without change there can be no growth.  We should always strive to see where change will put us at the end of it all.  There is so much sadness in the world, so much hurt, so much poverty.  Because we live in such a big world, we must look at how we change the world around us.  We are just individuals but if we all make an attempt to change what we can, and others attempt to make the changes that they can - then we can and will make a difference.  We don't need a president to make things change for us.  We need to stand on our own two feet and stand up for what is right and good.  We need to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.  We need to take on the bullies and the bigots and say "Enough! We aren't going to let you push people around anymore!" 
We should constantly be looking around us to see where we can be a part of the solution not a part of the problem.  We need to stop thinking about whats good for me but whats good for us. (If you look at the way society is right now, and the teens who are getting into trouble, it's all because they are looking out for me not for us. They believe that they are entitled, we need to stop raising children to believe this.  To let them know it's not right.)
When I say we, I mean the royal we, as in me.  I know that there are times when I can change someone elses day, just by holding the door for them.  I know that it sounds funny. It's such a simple thing.  But, it's true.  Someone who has been running around like a crazy person, trying to get a billion things done and feels like they are never going to catch a break and then...someone holds the door for them.  Sometimes you can even see it in their faces, just a little tiny bit of relief, that someone cared for just one second. 
     If you are feeling as though you just have too much on your plate.
     If you are feeling like the world is just passing you by.
     If you are feeling as though there isn't a single person out there that cares about how you feel.
     If you feel that God has given you more than you can handle.
Don't give up!!! If you've come to the end of your rope, Tie a knot and hold on!
I know you just might think that I'm crazy when I tell you this, but think what you will.  Unless you try it, you will never know.
     When you are feeling this way....do something nice for someone.
Yep, thats it.  Do something for someone else.  Because when we start feeling this way.  We are focusing on ourselves.  We are focusing on how we don't have what we want or we have too many struggles to deal with.  But, everyone has struggles, lots of people actually DONT have what they need ( notice I didnt say want).  We need to remember that we are each little fish in a great big pond and if we don't look out for each other, a bigger fish is going to come along and eat us up.  Ever wonder why fish swim in schools?????? One fish senses danger and they all turn and swim away.  We need to remember this so that we don't fall into the pit of self-pity.  I know that it's hard.  I know that we can be brought right to our knees sometimes, by all the things that are going on in our lives.  But, it is then that we must fight to be weak.  Yes, WEAK.  Weak enough to bring our focus back to where it should be.  Weak and humble enough to say "God help me, I can't do this alone, I need Your help."  As we remember that we should have our focus in a different direction, things will start to change.  Not over night maybe.  But, a little at a time, you will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  You will see that you  have something to offer and that you can make a difference in the world around you.  Then someone else will see this and realize that maybe they need to make some changes as well.  And so on and so on.  That is how change happens.  That is how change can be good.
We don't have to like change but we do need to allow it to happen; to us and thru us.
Today, think of something that you can do to make a change.  It can be in your life, in your spiritual life, in the life of someone around you (whether you know them or not).  Do something to take that first step toward change.  I'm going to be doing that right along with you.  Together, we can change the world.