What do we do when we know we need to make a change in life?

I’ll go ahead and say now that the reason for a change is not always caused by a bad thing. Our reason for change could simply be our realization that one thing is what we want over what we currently have or are on the path to. We may have a good job that we don’t hate, but we want one that we’re happy waking up to each day.

Many say we just need to take it one step at a time, one day at a time. Okay. I suppose they’re right up to a point. But we either have to get to their starting point or decide if we can determine what their point is. Yeah, that sentence confused me too and I’m supposed to know what I’m talking about.

To begin to find a first step we first need to realize a change is needed or required. Sometimes that change isn’t a choice but something thrown in our path. An exit ramp our GPS says we must take to continue our life because our original destination no longer exists.

That realization is a difficult thing to admit to.  Pride? Denial? Hope? Self-pity? Or maybe completely oblivious to what’s happening. Sometimes we can go through them all before hitting the reality wall. And then the hard work begins. Even with the acceptance of our situation, we know we need to figure out what to do next to get healthier.

When I said healthier I wasn’t necessarily meaning physical health. Mental, emotional, social, family, relationship, workplace, and basically anything that’s been a detour, hiccup, problem, or obstacle to happiness in our life. It could be a combination of several of those areas mentioned. Rarely is one area of our lives isolated during a swerve in life.

small, dark, hard corners

press spines into tension rods

will they break or bend

As some of you know I’ve had my share of exit ramps, thus why I found my way to blogging and poetry. But recently exit ramps were popping up on my life GPS.  I’d been off-road these past few years enough to recognize the rough terrain and eventually found my way back. Don’t get me wrong, getting back on life’s highway has taken time, and the pavement isn’t a bit bumpy but I maybe can see fresh pavement ahead. Just because I’ve been on the emotional and mental version of The Baja 1000 doesn’t mean it was any easier to make my way back or want to. It just means I knew I was there sooner than some others might have. I still had to make that decision to turn the truck around and head back to the highway.

Today is my first day of intentionally doing something to make a change in my life for the better in quite a long time. The words ‘Intentional’ and ‘Commit To’ and ‘Work the Problem’ are really annoying. They are so overused, but I do agree with doing something intentionally. If we say we are going to wake up tomorrow and drink decaf coffee instead of caffeinated but we make no preparations to do so, such as having only having caffeinated in the house instead of stocking up on decaf, then what’s likely to happen? We need to think these things through to a logical end.

That’s just one simple example.

Psalm:  “Be still, and know that I am God…”

I note the above verse because it’s one I often think of when my thoughts are in turmoil about something. It came into my life when things were a tornado of panic and difficulty. And it kept popping up all within a few days of each other in different ways from different people and many, many miles apart. Basically, the verse is saying that no matter what is happening on Earth, God has you in His hand and that once you are His you can stare difficulty in the eye and realize that no matter the end result you will ultimately end up in a place so far removed from the idea we have of a perfect that it will blow our minds.

But for me it is a way to close my eyes and just think, the world is bigger than me and I can only do what I can do. And as long as I do that then I’ve done what I can do. I may not be satisfied with it but it is what it is. I can’t worry about all those things that I have no control over even though I wish I could. I can’t bring world peace, end poverty, or world hunger with a snap of my fingers. I can donate, work at a soup kitchen, or do whatever, but I can only do my little part and be okay with that. I can only do my best at a job and the person signing the checks doesn’t like it then maybe I won’t be working for them again. But I did my best.

By doing what I can then I can have a bit of peace.  I can be still and know that God has me and I have done as God would have me do.

Maybe you are not a believer, but you can still use what you’ve read here. I only went into the  Bible verse because it helps me and it might help others. Also, it’s true that you can only do what you can do. And we need to accept that… up to a point. We should never be satisfied in some areas, such as helping the hungry and the poor. But we should be okay with what we’ve done with the idea of trying a little bit more next time. If we aren’t then we may just end up in a situation where we can’t help anyone… not even ourselves.

Until next time,

Peace, be still and do…

Ronovan

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