Change

It has only been less than a month since I had my hair cut short… a little bit over the chin, which I instantly loved. It’s like a break from a decade of having it so long. I reckon it framed my face well and I kinda’ like the change. There! --- a change that I just love to have! But then again… just this morning, I looked at it and realized how fast it has grown, well, it is not as long as before but yeah, longer than what I remembered it to be…longer than it used to be… longer than I wanted it to be… it changed! There!--- a change, THE inevitable change… which… after a certain pause of a moment , made me realized that it is something… errr… uhm… something I just had to deal with.

CHANGE!!! love it! hate it! No matter how you look it, it will still be what it is… Change! I shouldn’t be so surprise for I have grown up hearing that the only permanent thing in this world is guess what?—change! But I guess because I, myself, have been dealing with certain degree of “changes” at present, it suddenly becomes such a big deal. I know that there have been many things in my life which,upon my decision, changed because I wanted it to. Nevertheless, there were also differences that happened and are about to happen because of its inevitability. I think the latter scares me more. It scares me because of the uncertainty it brings and more than that, it scares me because … well, I’ve enjoyed this stage so much and there were just some things that I wanted to hold back… to be the way they were… to be how it used to be… to be just as it was. My friend once told me that we shouldn’t settle for just comfort, but rather for growth. Upon hearing that, I reckon that it was actually those inevitable changes which made me stronger and better as a person.

I looked back and reflected on the changes (big and small) that happened in my life. I can’t say that I like all those changes nor would I say that I glided through it well. It was excruciatingly painful at some point but exquisitely essential. As I ponder through my journey, I’ve learned some important points that “change” taught me, something that I carry with me whenever I encounter “change” in my life.

Character
“Change” can reveal so much of my character, so much of who I am and how I deal with things. I owe it to “change” that I see my very own weaknesses. It gives me a sight of my attitude (bad attitude, that is) when things happen beyond how I planned it to be. In the same way, it gives me a proper view of things which I often overlook. As much as it reveals my character, it also teaches THE character that I have to improve and THE character that I have to wear. With a little tug of honesty as I look at myself and the situation at hand, slowly but surely, these “changes” helps my character gets polished and refined along the way.

Hope
Changes always scare me (as it is actually doing to me right now). But at the same time, it always teaches me to hope! Yes, to hope that things would be okay (or at least would not go as bad as I would fear it to be) and that things would get better soon. Or if not, then it still teaches me to hope that some lessons are there for me to pick up which would make me wiser in the future, thereby making it better even if that means that “now” is not its time. I guess, with many uncertainties along the way, hope is something we should always carry in our bag. It’s like an instant dose of energy booster that gives an extra strength even if circumstances may be stormy and our view of things is cloudy. Hope, together with faith, makes us believe that at least one beautiful thing is on its way.

Acceptance
Changes that unfold may not always the change we wanted to happen. I’ve dealt with those kinds of changes myself. I detested and fought it with all my might. However, I can only control so much in my hand, which means that there are just things beyond my control and no matter what, I can’t prevent the course of things. Changes happen. Sometimes, the best way to deal with it is to really accept the fact that things already changed from what it used to be. It’s a part of life and we had to accept those changes. It is through acceptance that we get to see the beauty that the change brought. It is through acceptance that we get to move on and have a clearer view of the horizon ahead of us. Acceptance helps us in appreciating these changes and acceptance helps us know how we could deal with these changes.

Nurture
Changes can also be a field where we can nurture and develop our strengths. It is through dealing with these changes that I get to discover my capabilities. It gives me a glimpse of what I can do and it grants me a perspective of what I can do still. Changes give us a chance to unearth our potentials and realize their values. More than realizing our potentials, I guess, changes can also be a stage to nurture our relationship with people we are with. It is a time to actually appreciate the very people who supported and stayed with you during this time of change. It is a moment when we get to cherish their presence and importance in our lives.

Grace
It starts with grace! I wouldn’t be able to pull through all the changes if not for God’s grace. Everything, all of my strength and the wisdom that came along, is from God, His grace. And I would not dare claim that I was able to do it all by myself. In fact, it was mostly God carrying me all along, encouraging me and fighting for me. It was Him who supplied all my needs and more. It was Him who loved me even during the times when I, myself, don’t love my-self. And it was because of that grace, that unfathomable love, which made me face tomorrow with courage and strength.

Experience
Things may not turn out the way we would have wanted it to be. Things may not be even better at present. And things may not, at the very least, be okay. But it does not mean we haven’t learned anything from it. “Change” in our lives makes our experiences a lot more colorful, a lot more interesting (or intriguing?) and yes, a lot more beautiful. It makes our lives more worthy to look at. Charge it to experience, they say. I guess, it is through changes that our experiences become a lot more meaningful.

I don’t know why I did start telling you about my hair and then ended up discussing about the things I’ve learned about “change”. I guess, it is through simple things that we get to have a peek of understanding and perceiving the essence of life’s complications. Oh well…