One link at a time

[BeingMe]

Thanks for the validation, Tyler. Sometimes, I wonder what the heck I'm doing, but it's all a life's process, 'eh!

Lately, I have been thinking about the issue of change that all of us experience in our lives (hence the change in my quote).

I was thinking today that change is like being knocked off the banks of a river. You fall in, get swirled around by the current, sink, trying to swim for shore, gulping in water, gasping for air, but constantly trying to find your footing. Sometimes, you get panicky, and sometimes calmly try and float. Eventually, you start getting closer to the shore, find your footing on the river bed, and slowly start making your way back to solid ground.

This is what has happened to me, in many ways, in the last 10 years. My life has been a series of constant changes, from immigration to a new country, D27 getting married and leaving home, grandchildren being born, to the more recent move to our new home. In between, more children have left home, one came back, another is pregnant, my marital circus with H having EA and all the ups and downs that brought, jobs, moving, and so on. Not all negative changes, in fact, there have been many positive changes. Sometimes, however, the change was more my role as a mother and wife.

Many times, I have felt the current has swept me along, or I have found myself dragged under, then there were times I just floated, and other times I desperately swam for the shore, but the desperation sometimes worked against me. Other times, I happily floated along. I have even found my footing many times, only to be swept out again. There have been times that I thought I would drown, but slowly but surely, I headed for the shore, and I feel now, that I am almost there. I have learned not to fight the current, but to steadily work my way at a diagonal course (much like you would if swept out to sea). I don't know where I will land, but I will enjoy solid ground again, that's for sure.

I can't complain about my life ... it's been a fantastic adventure. I think I am getting to the age now, however, where I want a time of peace, serenity, clarity, and closure on some past issues. I want some level of control over my life. I need time off to work on me, space to breathe, and take a break from all the adventures.

Almost there, just a few more strokes ....

Here are some quotes about change that has made me think, and inspired me to keep swimming for that shore.

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." ~ Christina Baldwin

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better." ~ King Whitney Jr.

"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves." ~ Lynn Hall, Where Have All the Tigers Gone?, 1989