Handling Change

How do you handle change? Are you laid back and accepting? Are you uncomfortable and worried? Do you consider change a good thing or a bad thing? I ask this because I am swinging on the gate of change and I am not sure how well I am handling it. On the other side of the fence gate that I am swinging on is our future and I am struggling to accept that regardless of what I want, there is a greater plan for my family and me.

 The old saying is "When God closes a door, he opens a window", and I am looking for that window now. I have a daughter who is so desperate to move on that she is trying my patience and making me consider sending her on her way now and a husband who is facing unemployment in less than two months, while I sit here like a lump healing from my surgery. We have the chance to make this an opportunity instead of a death sentence; it is just how we take on these challenges that will matter in the end. The other piece of this is that our children are watching. Will we teach them to face adversity with calm and move forward with grace, or will we teach them to fear change and difficulties? Our best shot is to face forward and move through this time with calm and grace.

 The more antagonized I become with my daughter the more stressful the situation becomes. Last night as I sat in my temporary recovery zone, my daughter was performing another version of Godzilla and I had had it. It seems that I cannot say anything that does not send her spiraling out of control and I realized that I need to take back control. I have allowed this to go on long enough and I am done. Regardless of what she thinks about me, I am taking back my parenting rights and taking control. This is going to be a change and it is not going to be easy, but if I expect to flow gracefully and calmly, I must disable Godzilla. I think that Godzilla must learn where her bread gets buttered so that she stops acting like we are just an inconvenience that she must endure until next August. This is not going to be easy for any of us, but change never is.

 The next item to face is the potential for unemployment. While we know the job market is at its worst right now I am also aware that attitude is everything. If we fall into the trap of believing the doom and gloom, we will become frozen in the distress and become unable to move forward. It is best for us if we do everything within our power to stay positive and busy. If we stop for one minute and rest, that could be the minute that the negative thoughts begin and we have no time for that.

 Overall we are blessed. As I spend a large amount of my time right now watching television and reading, I can see from the news that the world is full of unrest. It seems as though not one part of our world is without turmoil. I can look out my window and see nature; I am not faced with violence or public discontent. It is easy to get caught up in your view and not see the greater one. Change is happening everywhere and the reason that God closes a door and opens a window is so that we do not become stagnant. It is time for our family to accept the changes of our greater plan and see what the future has to offer. I guess it is time to step down from the gate and climb through the window.