Change.
It’s always present, at an imperceptible low hum.
And when humans think they’ve got it tamed… it reappears… like an Easter bunny rabbit, carrying a basket-full of Unknowns.
~~~
Way back when, when TV shows could be described as “delightful,” there was an intro to the Dick Van Dyke Show, where Rob comes into the house after Mary had changed the furniture position, and he trips over the ottoman, to Mary’s horror.
That intro always made me chuckle, then as a kiddie, and now. It doesn’t matter how many times I see that grainy black and white scene — Rob trips and I laugh.
~~~
Many, many years later, I had inadvertently done the same thing with my home furniture and my now deceased husband. I moved our basement furniture. Hubby goes downstairs, turning on no lights, and BOOM! Into and over the ottoman he goes.
When art imitates life, you’re too busy being in awe, and laughing hilariously, to help your hubby up from the rug.
~~~
Change.
Like I said. An imperceptible hum…
~~~
There’s been so much of it recently — the pandemic, the Ukraine war, the European fuel crisis, global inflation, developing countries fight for power. It’s impossible to read articles on a reputable news agency these days and not be deluged with Change for the Worse.
The 900 lb elephantine human experience question: How are supposed to cope with change?
Many people haven’t done very well lately.
The pandemic killed businesses and killed marriages, and just plain killed.
As much as the world keeps turning, our ability to handle change has been more of a disability.
~~~
And I’m no different. Major changes have and continue to arrive at my ottoman-free front door, and each day I try to cope. Take each, complete their awful To-Dos and shelves them, compartmentalize them in my brain, set them behind proverbial barriers, so I don’t end up completely losing it and ordering a straight jacket on Amazon.
Long ago, and I don’t remember who said it, but the one thing that has kept me coping has been the advice that to fight for Control over Change is the worst thing you can do.
That whatever you, yourself, cannot control, you simply waste your time worrying.
So, for the better part of my adult life, after I realized and adopted this little ditty, is to do my best to not fret over the uncontrollable things and to focus on what is within my power to handle, that each and every day, I take a task, complete it as best I can, and wait to see what that uncontrollable future holds.
For, you know, peeps, that’s all we humans can ever do.
Recently, I’ve added a second ditty to my coping life. It’s the realization that my Perception can Change, too. That how I perceive a thing isn’t automatically correct.
In my youth, oh, boy, the hours and days I wasted suffering under the delusion that how I saw things — those terrible outcomes yet to emerge that will pounce on me like a lion pounces on a wounded impala — must be right. It’s only a matter of time before my world collapses and the damage it will wrought, I shall never recover.
Guess what? Nine out of ten times, that bad, icky, horrible, earth-collapsing result NEVER HAPPENED. Whodathunk?
And then as I grew and matured, I realized a third thing.
My parents raised me to be a SURVIVOR.
They gave me the mental and physical skills to overcome just about any scenario.
Will each outcome be ideal? Perfect? Maybe not. But I will come out from under the chaos, whole, and my life will be okay. Not idyllic. Not perfect. But I, Barbara Thompson, will be OKAY.
And peeps, isn’t that the most we all can hope for? To waddle along this mortal coil being, okay? Finding joy in the little things. Being happy with what is yours, not fighting for what isn’t?
None of us can correct all the immense global sorrow, but all of us can do what we can to brighten our days and the days of our neighbours.
We can learn that:
· Worrying over the uncontrollable is wasted time in our finite lives.
· Perception is mutable and not always correct.
· Worst outcomes rarely happen.
And adding to the triad of reliability above, a soupcon of FAITH. Faith in YOUR abilities, YOUR skills, YOUR intellect to surmount anything which comes your way.
This fourth ditty may be the hardest of them all.
We humans aren’t given a Life Manual when we plop onto this Blue Marble. It would be nice, but nope, no manual given.
We use what we have — brain, body, and soul — to fight the Happy Warrior fight, to overcome those daily obstacles, and to be stronger for that fight.
And Change, well, it hums along… waiting…
And all I or you can do when it arrives is smile, and say, “I’ve got this.” And mean it.
Meaning it means you’ve arrived as an adult.
I didn’t know that until recently. I guess I’ve finally arrived.
You can, too.