Facing Life's Changes (And Saying Goodbye)

When I was a little, I didn’t give change much thought. I played at the park. went to school, made up stories with my siblings. I went to dance lessons and read books. I doodled in my little sketchbooks. Life was simple. 

When I was ten years old, things changed. My family and I moved to a different state, and for me, this was hard. It meant a new home, a new community, new people, new faces, a new school. Everything was different. It was strange, and it was difficult, because I had to say goodbye to much of what I had known.

Not too many months after we moved, however, I started adapting. I met new people and made new friends. I became more aware of the world around me. Things kept changing around me for the next couple years, and life kept going – but now that I had experienced change, I knew how to better face it. 

By the time I was thirteen, everything seemed to settle down again. I found my rhythm in life: I studied for school, I wrote stories, I made art, I played music. Even though I tried my hand on new activities, and kept learning and growing, I didn’t have to say goodbye to many of the things I had become used to. That was a great relief. 

Change – and saying goodbye – was over for me.

Or was it? 

Right now, with the cold autumn arriving in the north where I live, things in my life seem to be changing again. More goodbyes. More doors opening.

Sometimes, we think of change as just letting go. Most times, it’s dark, uncertain. Without our old comforts, and with the road unclear ahead of us, change can feel very challenging and very daunting. 

Change is like the autumn wind that blows through the branches of the green trees, turning their leaves red and orange, yellow and brown. Soon the trees will have to let them go, let them be borne on the wind of memory. The branches will become bare and lonely in the freezing cold of winter. 

Whenever large changes are happening in my life, I get caught up in the moment. What am I losing? What will happen? What new things must I adapt to? Because I am so often caught up in these changes, I forget two very important things: God made each of the seasons for a purpose, and each season has its own unique beauty.

The changes in our lives also serve a purpose; and these changes can be beautiful, if we open our mind to see it that way. 

I am learning that in life, when we let go of some of the old and embrace some of the new, the most wonderful experiences happen. These are when the most moving stories are brought into being. Life isn’t a clear-cut four seasons, but many seasons in a cycle.

Each season has its own beauty. No season lasts forever on this earth, yet nothing will truly be gone forever. Autumn will come and pass, and winter, and spring, and summer, and autumn once more; and yet, no two autumns are ever the same.

And like that, life keeps on going.

So let us embrace the blessings God has given to us today, and follow wherever He leads.