Change: A Ripple In The Pattern Of Our Lives

How do you feel about change? Are you someone who embraces new experiences even if they disrupt established patterns? I crave the constant; those moments when things appear to be working in sync. The daily rhythms of school drop off, waking up before anyone else to soak in the morning light, and work projects meeting deadlines. Even on the weekends, my body gravitates toward habitual patterns of movement and mindset. However, all too often, something in the patterns shift. Perhaps it is a job change, a physical injury, or the leaves beginning to fall each November. These are the micro shifts that cause a ripple in the pattern of our lives. 

The author Hillary McBride discusses the connection between change and new experiences in her book, The Wisdom of Your Body: 

“While most of us think that change happens because we learn new ideas-and, yes, that is part of it-the deepest and most lasting change happens when we have new experiences and then integrate them into the larger story of our lives, and our collective story.”[1] 

I sent my oldest son off to college recently, which was definitely a new experience. He was the one who made us parents; our “first” for every parenting milestone.If you have ever dropped off a child for a first day of preschool or kindergarten, it feels a lot like that. You are overwhelmed by emotion. Excitement, dread, worry, you name it. But, if I am being honest, it is the abrupt change that is the most difficult to process. He was a constant in our home for 18 years, and the house feels very different without him around.

We each have our own path to explore, a journey that is uniquely ours. These disruptions, no matter how minor, can be unsettling. I am currently attempting to welcome change as a friendly participant in my life story. Journaling has proved to be a helpful way to chart and process patterns of thinking that are no longer serving me. I am not at the point where I embrace all change, but I am willing to integrate these ripples with less apprehension. 

Where are you today on your journey? The past few years have been filled with abrupt changes for all of us. How are you incorporating these new experiences into your story? Into the collective story of your family or community? May we all become more receptive to the ripples of change that alter our life story. For in these moments, our perspective shifts, even just slightly, which can be transformational.

[1] Page 43.

                                                                                  By, Jennifer Metten Pantoja