Word of the Week

Change

Definition: to make or become different; alter in terms of; the act or instance of making or becoming different; an alteration or modification

Change

Consider this...

When I was a senior in high school and applying to colleges, I had one major criterion: the college had to be in a state I had never in lived before. Which, honestly, gave me a lot of choices since up until that point I’d only ever lived in one city. In one house. I went to school with the same kids from the time I was 5 years old until I was 18. I went to the same mall each weekend, the same movie theater, swam with the same swim team each summer.

All I really wanted was one thing. Change.

Change! Glorious, exciting, copious amounts of change! Chances to experience brand new places, new people, new ways of thinking and living. New ways of being.

Don’t get me wrong - I was by no means sick of my pre-college life. Not at all. I loved it. But, once I got my first taste of living outside my city (At an overnight camp. In the woods. With people I didn’t know!), I just wanted more of it. I craved it. I wanted to be everywhere with everyone doing everything all the time.

Change is scary, and there are plenty of people in this world who would rather have all their teeth pulled out with pliers than try something new. But, you guys, change can be really great. The life-changing kind of great.

Worst case scenario for change? You try something new and totally hate it. It totally sucks. So what? At least you’ve tried something new, and you’ve learned something about yourself.

Change doesn’t have to come in the form of picking up your whole entire life and relocating to a strange place with strange people doing strange things. Change can be small. Manageable. Easy, even.

Taste a new food. Switch up your hairdo. Attempt a new hobby. Plan a vacation or a day-trip to a place you’ve never been before. Sleep on the opposite side of the bed.

The possibilities and opportunities for change are only as available as you make them.

So make a change. Big or small. Temporary or permanent. You might be really surprised by what you learn about yourself.