Changing Times

Life is a series of changes and transitions, some of which we choose for ourselves others are chosen for us. Sometimes we embrace the change, other times we resist it and cannot foresee positive outcomes. Either way change brings its own stresses as we move from something that is familiar and comfortable to something that is new and unfamiliar. Any change involves leaving something and often someone behind and launching into the unknown. Sometimes we can imagine that unknown place or situation, we can even be convinced that it is right place to move to, but essentially we have no idea what it is really like or how being there will really feel until we have taken that step of leaving one place and then entering the other.

Usually we do not really know what we have left behind until we have left it, to quote the singer Joni Mitchell "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". Often it is the unexpected things that we miss and sometimes we grieve those losses. The last 10 days have involved three such changes. In many ways it feels like a lot in a short space of time!

I have said goodbye to someone who I have only known a short time but who I am privileged to count as a friend due to that person relocating for work. I have attended the funeral of a lovely man who died aged 94 and who I was also a privileged to count as a friend. In both cases I was pleased for them that they have moved on to better things, the latter forever. Yet in my delight for them I am already sad for myself that they are not part of the everyday pattern of my life as they once were.

As well as goodbyes to individuals we are also saying another goodbye. As a family we are moving Churches and yesterday was our last Sunday at the Church we have attended for almost 10 years. We have been open with everyone for a number of months about our thoughts and sense that it is time to move on. So we are in the comfortable position of leaving openly and with a sense of mutually blessing one another in this leaving process. Formal goodbyes and prayers for one another have been said and friendships continue but it isn't the same as being in that comfortable place with familiar people and it will take time to replace that sense of belonging that we are moving from in the place that we are going to.

Endings are not easy, goodbye is often tinged with sadness and a sense of loss. Those new places are as yet undiscovered and give rise to a sense of excitement and anxiety. A wiseman once said "if you want to walk on water you've got to step out of the boat". I totally agree and by nature am fairly up for change and taking risks but I have enjoyed this chance to pause and share through blogging that the courage it takes to get out of the boat comes at a price and is part of a bigger picture and a journeying process.

I am also aware that many of you are facing situations which are forcing you out of your own boat due to an unexpected change of circumstances and for you the courage and emotional energy needed to deal with the transition and change is so very much greater. Be kind to yourselves and take time to pause and acknowledge how you're feeling.