We will all face changes and challenges in our lives. There’s no avoiding it. Why? Because change is an integral, important, and necessary part of life.

From the moment we are born we are changing: our physical appearance, the way we think, reason and see the world, we are constantly in motion, in change.  We change our dreams, values, wants and needs many times through our years on this earth, and with each change there will be challenges.  Some will be fun and exciting. We will look forward to them, embrace and have fun with them.  Others will be hard, test our wherewithal, our grit and courage, and will push us to our limits and beyond.

Being pushed to our limits is how we grow as humans.  It’s how we discover who we are and what we are really made of. It’s what takes us further.  Changes are the building blocks necessary to push us up to that next level, next chapter, next stage of our lives.

When I am in the middle of a storm of change, I find myself reflecting back on other storms I have faced in my life. I can see it all clearly.  How scared I was, how alone I felt, how totally desperate I was for it to just all be over with.  Then I remember the strength I had, the courage I mustered and the shear human will that told me, “You got this. You can do it, no matter what this challenge of change throws at you. You’re gonna be ok.”  Hell, you’ve already been through a lot and look at ya – you’re ok.  Even if it turns out to be not ok, it’s still going to be ok.  It will work out how it should. It will show you what you need to know and prepare you for your next challenge and change.

As long as we trust ourselves to take care of ourselves…  As long as we live with integrity and appreciation for our fellow human beings and their struggles in weathering their own storms…. As long as we keep moving forward with our heads held high and positivity in our hearts, the changes that come with all of their challenges will build us and mold us into who we are meant to be.

Next time we are faced with changes and challenges, we must tell ourselves we’ve been here before, and we’ll be here again.  This won’t be the last one, but with everything that has been thrown at us before, here we stand.  We made it through, and in most cases, it led us to something better, and most definitely made us stronger.  Those challenges helped prepare us for the next one, and proved to us we can, indeed, take care of ourselves.  After all, we made it this far, and man, just look how far we’ve come!

Embrace the change, embrace its challenges.  We should dream of what waits for us on the other side.  That once we’ve fought our way through and walked out of the storm and into our next level of strength, wisdom, understanding and appreciation for our lives -our character will be stronger, our courage more fierce and we will stand in awe of the people who held our hands, encouraged us, pushed us, wiped away our tears and cheered for us the loudest until we made it through to the next, new, wonderful chapter in our lives.

Welcome each challenge and change.  Accept them.  Know they won’t all be easy, and they won’t all be hard, but be certain they ALL will be worth it.  We may not see how for a while, but trust me, when we reflect on the toughest times, we see just how strong and amazing we really are.  How we made it through the things we thought would kill us and destroy our very souls, or events and sorrows that could’ve stopped us or held us back, those were actually the things that helped mold our character and caused us to grow, making us who we are today.

So next time a challenge or change threatens to upset our current balance, we need to see it as an opportunity to stretch every fiber of our being, and push us to the next chapter.  And who knows what wonderful things lie there!

Accept the challenges of today.  They will lead to better changes in our future.

 

vicissitude [vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood] –successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 43 years