Recently my wife and I got a new dog. Her name is Lucy, and she’s a full-blood Havanese (almost 2 yrs old). We got her for FREE through some people we happened to meet through my wife’s stepmom. Well for years I had been saying I didn’t want a dog. I didn’t want to deal with taking care of one; especially when we go out of town, etc. But today I realized something. After all these years, I’ve FINALLY (at age 32) realized that change is always good. I’ll explain why…
Habits & Boring-ness
I’m sure you’ve heard that humans are creatures of habit. Well that certainly feels true sometimes. I like to do pretty much the same things week in and week out. I enjoy the same foods and drinks. I sometimes get cranky when I have to stray outside of my box of contentment. I have only made that realization now that I have accepted change in my life. The same old thing all the time is just BORING. That’s not a personality thing either. My personality is not the type that loves change, but I see the value in it. Before we added Lucy to our fold, my initial reaction to the idea was reluctance. Ok, I was straight up opposed to it. But after some discussion with my wife, I just felt peace about it. It was that God kind of peace. Now that we have Lucy, I can see how having a dog is actually stretching me to grow in positive ways. This experience is helping us prepare to be parents, which we believe is one of our next steps in life together. Change in life is like the lines between puzzle pieces. The lines don’t make sense until you can get enough pieces together to step back and look at the bigger picture. I’m only now beginning to see the picture God has for me.
Only One Way to Grow
Things that are alive grow. Growth IS change. Plants, humans, businesses…they all have to grow. Where there is no growth, there is only death. The cells in our bodies are constantly turning over and producing new cells. That’s change, and that’s life. If you were never to change your way of thinking or your daily habits, just think of what kind of life that would be. You would always know what to expect, and your outcomes would always be the same. That may sound enticing on the surface level, but eventually your brain would go into autopilot and your life would become meaningless. You’d be a machine. It’s through challenges and trials that we emerge on the other side a better and stronger person. Then we are able to face something slightly harder the next time. The story of Joseph in the Bible is a great example of how embracing change can lead you to your destiny. Joseph faced more challenges than most of us could never dream of in our lifetime, and yet he ended up being second in charge of Egypt. Not to mention he was able to save his family during a famine. Growing through the changes in life will sometimes put you in a position to help those closest to you. You can become the strong one, or you can complain or give up and become the dependent one.
What’s Your Outlook?
The truth is, change is inevitable, and change is always happening whether you want it to or not. The question is, what’s your perspective going to be? Are you going to resist the change and get stressed and burned out, or are you going to accept the change and find the positive in it? There’s always a silver lining. I encourage you to roll with the punches and find ways to adapt to whatever changes and challenges come your way in life. That’s what I plan to do as I continue down the road to online business!
Final Thoughts…
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite verses from the Bible:
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT
If you can ground yourself in this verse, then you will never receive bad news again. The worse the situation looks on the outside, the more God is working behind the scenes for your good! Leave a comment below and tell us how you have experienced change in your life — was it good or bad for you? What did you learn from it?
Nice love that dog type