Have you ever found that you don’t enjoy something as much as you once did? It is not that the activity has changed, you have. The things that mattered the most at one point in time are now trivial things that only come up now and again. Seasons change and so do people. Should we fight change? Or roll with it?
A wise man once said, “For everything there is a season.” I am finding this true in my own life more and more. The more the seasons change, the more I find myself different than I once was. This isn’ a bad thing. I am not the same man I was 20 years ago. As far as I can tell it is for the better.
At one point in time I considered it madness to get up before 8 am unless I had to. Sleeping till 10 was even better than that. Now, my alarm is set for 5:05 am every day (I would set it for 5, but for some reason that extra five minutes makes me feel like I am getting away with something…). I used to enjoy laying around and loafing my days away. Now I have to be doing something productive…or mostly productive.
It is more than just these things though. With every stage of life I find myself at a place of possible reinvention. From time to time I have to examine things. Sometimes, change is the only option. Without change, I wouldn’t have the freedom to discover the things that my heart and soul are searching for. I don’t have to be a fixed object. The seasons change and I can too.
Obviously there are some constants in my life that anchor me: my faith, my bride, my boy, my family and friends. That is not what I am talking about. I am advocating for change in areas where I have grown stagnant. Is my faith as strong as it needs to be? Maybe I should get more involved in my church. Is my thinking short sighted? Maybe it is time to read more. Do my communication skills need work? It is time to sharpen up my writing and speaking skills. Am I unhealthy? It is time to examine my eating and exercise patterns. Is my career headed the way I want it to? Maybe it is time to learn a new skill.
One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting different results. Could it be the seasons have changed and it is time to change with them? I would much rather be my authentic self in the season that I am in. Do you resist change? Are you trying to remain in a season of life that is over? Has your environment changed and you haven’t?
Change is never easy. My thought is this: If it takes you closer to being your authentic self, it is worth the struggle. You never know, you may like the next step of your evolution even more than this one.
David Willis 