'Change, Always Present, Always, Changing' - Time Out #156

What pure joy for me, writing this every Sunday installment, and sharing part of me with my fellow readers in Our Town and far beyond! For 3 years now, this has been a total labor of love for me. A sincere "Thank You" is expressed by me to my NewsPress peers and helpers. Beau and Dale, for your assistance you have provided me, you are the absolute BEST!

Now on to the subject of change.

Yes, a subject that not many people enjoy because the status quo feels like an old shoe, maybe comfortable or maybe not, but it definitely is not full of surprises. Simply put, change is the fear of the unknown.

Change, of course, comes in many various forms---job changes, physical body changes, social changes, personality changes, weather changes; you name a topic, and most likely there is a change associated with it. Some of these alterations directly affect us as human beings; most are well beyond our control, but a slim few, we are able to have an direct effect on by the decisions we make.

For the sake of brevity, let's just discuss a few of those controllable changes we have in our lives.

Occupations, aka, jobs. That one is a biggie, folks. As I have said in earlier writings, it has been estimated, hopefully not just made up, that about 75% of American workers, when asked yes or no about their current employment, do NOT like their jobs. Wow! Well, I ask, if they are unhappy, why don't they change jobs? The answers to that query are complex, but I suspect, many times the fear of just change itself keeps them at their current job. If they changed jobs, they would be pushed out of their proverbial "safe spot" they have working in a job they really dislike. Misery loves company?

Physical body appearance. Now there's a doozie of a subject. Try turning on the television/computer any hour of the day or night, and not be bombarded with advertisements about weight loss gadgets, workout gadgets, health food supplements, and everything else under the sun to try to "improve" one's appearance. Please, let's not forget the zillions of face/body creams, and various other gadgets that will get your skin to instantly take away years from it's present appearance. Too, how about all the ways to grow hair back in various body locations? Madison Avenue (i.e., advertisers) seem to have full control over the psyche of all of us, huh? So, this sounds like they want you to pay your hard-earned money to them so you can change, or, think you have changed in your own mind?

Well, we do have lots of choices of what we choose to do regarding body changes. Decisions like eating less, eating more, simple exercise like walking, jogging or sit ups, and various other indoor exercises that don't require any extra gadgets, other than motivating us to take the time to do the exercises, so we will not change into a human form less healthy. O.K., let's not forget to avoid the damaging effects of the sun or an indoor tanning device's ultra violet radiation, either. Therefore, just how do you feel if someone comes up to you and you haven;t seen them for years, and the first thing out of their mouth is "Gosh, you HAVE changed!" That would be quite a loaded statement wouldn't it, dear people?

Social changes, and I'm not just talking about your next 5-year high school/college reunion. This category covers a huge area, with such sensitive situations as relationships, economic strata, or political status.The reunion scenario is an easy one to mention. Remember seeing how that popular/unpopular kid during your school days has changed, and you are still wondering how/what caused that transformation in her/him over time since you last were around them?

Or, the relationship dilemma regarding the question of why Johnny and Suzi are still together, considering all their marital problems? The simple answer may be neither person is willing to go through the change that would result in dissolving their long-term relationship. Again, no one EVER said change was easily accomplished, brave readers!

So, as we all go down life's sometimes straight, sometime curvey, sometimes interrupted path, the way we handle change, says a great deal, deep-down, about ourselves.

Our decisions and our mental approach to it all is ours alone to decide.

Good luck to all, my fellow time travelers.......