more change

When I think about the word change, I generally associate it with a big physical change like moving somewhere new, changing the radio station to a different song, or even changing clothes. These types of changes are easy to see and recognize in ourselves and others, but they’re not always the most important changes we experience in our lives.

When I moved to college, it was a big change, and I’m not just talking about a change in weight as a result of the unlimited access to a dining hall. Living in a dorm with new people, not having classes strictly from 8:00-3:30, and having a Target down the street (as opposed to a few hours away in my home town) were a few of the big physical changes. In short, the atmosphere around me was drastically different from what I had experienced in life up to that point, and I think most of us experience similar big changes in our lives after we graduate high school.

While we can easily identify the changes around us, it’s sometimes harder to see the changes inside of us. I’ve often noticed how drastically my thoughts and opinions have changed when I sit down with an old friend. Undoubtedly, time contributes some to growing apart when we have these conversations with people we haven’t talked to in awhile. However, it’s important to recognize that we grow apart because we all change. Our view on the world changes, as well as our hearts, desires, and passions.

I think sometimes we can get a negative idea about these internal changes. While being steadfast in your beliefs and values will always be important, I think it’s equally as important to be open to changing how and what we think as we learn and grow. The change I experienced when I left for college was more than that of a new place. It was a new world of ideas, opinions, and knowledge. I’ve learned that it’s perfectly fine to change and develop new opinions, and it’s also just fine to realize that what I believed in the past isn’t always aligned with what I believe now having had new life experiences.

A change in surroundings doesn’t always equate to a change in mindset, but a new atmosphere can certainly push us outside our comfort zone. However, what happens when we can’t change our zip code? I think this is where the most important intentional changes can happen inside of us. In the past few months, a lot has changed about all of our lives, but the thing that hasn’t changed is where we are. Most of us have been stuck at home, which can seem like a standstill for any major change in our lives. However, we aren’t distracted by or influenced by the “new” around us, so we have no choice but to seek out growth and change in ways that don’t include traveling or moving to a different city. We should all welcome this change, because these changes in ourselves are probably encouraging us to be better than we were yesterday, and before this year.

If you’re scared to change yourself, remember the change you want to see in the world. It all has to start somewhere, and we can’t expect change in others until we intentionally seek out change in ourselves.

There’s more to change.

There’s more to it all.