Keep the Change

I've gotten to thinking about change recently. More than anything, I've been asking myself why such a small word can bring such great anguish, such terror, to someone. Is it this whole comfort zone thing we've all come to buy into? Is it that we've become lazy and that we know change requires extra effort in order to embrace it? I think it might actually be the fact that with this new arrangement in our lives (no matter how big or how small) is an invitation to great un-predictability. It's the step after the change that worries us. How will we react? What is to become of us? Are we going to be happy or sad in the end? Will there be regret? Shock? As humans, we are uncomfortable with vulnerability. And well, change makes us vulnerable.
Attending the same school for 14 years (elementary, middle, and high school), growing up in the city I was born in, and having the same best friends for 10+ years, I confess I have not had too much experience with change. Now that I'm...*swallows throat-lump* growing up, change is impossible to hide from.
But here's the thing. I don't want to hide from it. I want to invite it. I want to welcome it like a good friend and face it with both courage and excitement. I want to prepare myself for whatever happens, but at the same time, I want to have hope that all of the new opportunities change brings will be good ones, healthy ones, productive ones. They're all an opportunity to grow as a person, and that should never be looked down upon or hidden from.

So instead of looking at it with fear, maybe we should start looking at change with hope, thinking only on the positives-- then maybe we can cure our fear with a smile...
Hashtag late night thoughts?

Xoxo
Ale