Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ~ Anais Nin
It happens to the best of us. One minute we’re cruising along the highway of life, listening to some tunes and enjoying the ride, comfortable in the knowledge that we know exactly where we’re heading. When suddenly, there’s a detour up ahead we hadn’t anticipated. We feel a formless anxiety build as we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory without a GPS device. There are no signposts up ahead, no recognizable landmarks. As we struggle to figure out which way to turn, we feel as if we have been cast adrift in a sea of uncertainty.
This is what it can feel like when a sudden change hijacks our lives. Everything we know, all that we are accustomed to, seems different. Sometimes, in the case of a career or a relationship this change can be overwhelming. While change can be uncomfortable, it is inevitable. From the moment we’re born life is a series of changes. Often, from the limited viewpoint we have prior to the change, this can seem daunting and undesirable, but when we look at the effects of change in retrospect, the benefits become clear.
If you had the ability, as a baby in utero, to know that the experience of childbirth is like, you might never choose to be born. Think about it. You’re in a warm sac, floating in a liquid cushion, almost weightless. Your nourishment is provided through the umbilical cord, as is all the oxygen you need to survive. You are never hungry and you don’t even have to breathe for yourself. You are never cold and it is always dark and peaceful. The only sounds filtering through are muffled by the womb environment.
Contrast that with what we know of the birth experience and it must all be pretty overwhelming. Suddenly there’s this extraordinary pressure, pushing you downward. The liquid cushion you’ve been floating in for months bursts, and you feel squeezed and constricted. There is discomfort and confusion; what is happening?
Finally after hours and hours of this, sometimes over a day of the birthing process, you emerge. Born into a cold, stark delivery room, the bright lights hurt your eyes and the cold air makes you shiver. People are pulling at you, suctioning your mouth and rubbing you down briskly. They put ointment in your eyes and prick you with a sharp needle for the blood test. Now it’s a different world. Your food isn’t provided automatically, you need to cry to let people know when you’re hungry or thirsty or when you need changing. If you feel pain and discomfort you alert others by crying and hope that they’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong.
With the limited understanding you possessed in the womb, no one would blame you if you chose not to be born, but then think of what you’d be missing. Change is often hard and scary but can also be the start of a wonderful, new adventure, the beginning of a life that surpasses all your dreams. Go for it!
It happens to the best of us. One minute we’re cruising along the highway of life, listening to some tunes and enjoying the ride, comfortable in the knowledge that we know exactly where we’re heading. When suddenly, there’s a detour up ahead we hadn’t anticipated. We feel a formless anxiety build as we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory without a GPS device. There are no signposts up ahead, no recognizable landmarks. As we struggle to figure out which way to turn, we feel as if we have been cast adrift in a sea of uncertainty.
This is what it can feel like when a sudden change hijacks our lives. Everything we know, all that we are accustomed to, seems different. Sometimes, in the case of a career or a relationship this change can be overwhelming. While change can be uncomfortable, it is inevitable. From the moment we’re born life is a series of changes. Often, from the limited viewpoint we have prior to the change, this can seem daunting and undesirable, but when we look at the effects of change in retrospect, the benefits become clear.
If you had the ability, as a baby in utero, to know that the experience of childbirth is like, you might never choose to be born. Think about it. You’re in a warm sac, floating in a liquid cushion, almost weightless. Your nourishment is provided through the umbilical cord, as is all the oxygen you need to survive. You are never hungry and you don’t even have to breathe for yourself. You are never cold and it is always dark and peaceful. The only sounds filtering through are muffled by the womb environment.
Contrast that with what we know of the birth experience and it must all be pretty overwhelming. Suddenly there’s this extraordinary pressure, pushing you downward. The liquid cushion you’ve been floating in for months bursts, and you feel squeezed and constricted. There is discomfort and confusion; what is happening?
Finally after hours and hours of this, sometimes over a day of the birthing process, you emerge. Born into a cold, stark delivery room, the bright lights hurt your eyes and the cold air makes you shiver. People are pulling at you, suctioning your mouth and rubbing you down briskly. They put ointment in your eyes and prick you with a sharp needle for the blood test. Now it’s a different world. Your food isn’t provided automatically, you need to cry to let people know when you’re hungry or thirsty or when you need changing. If you feel pain and discomfort you alert others by crying and hope that they’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong.
With the limited understanding you possessed in the womb, no one would blame you if you chose not to be born, but then think of what you’d be missing. Change is often hard and scary but can also be the start of a wonderful, new adventure, the beginning of a life that surpasses all your dreams. Go for it!
posted by Deborah Avery at
8:37 PM
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