We've got a lot of road work going on where I live. Turn lanes are being added. Work crews are out digging around ditches in the median and clearing out drains. Brand new asphalt has been poured on the roads and the drive to and from work, aside from the traffic, is a smoother affair. Good changes. Needed changes. And yet changes like these take time.
I hate change.
My office at work is being renovated. And though the plan is to give the small space a cozier atmosphere, free of clutter, I have my shelves, my binders and I don't want that to change. I liked things the way they were. Everything was at my fingertips. I didn't need or ask for this mania. But life is change. Life changes from one second to the next, with or without our permission.
I fight change as long as I can and then, only because I have no other choice, I accept things I cannot change... like change. I've had loads of experience doing this growing up, moving from one Army post to the next, leaving friends behind, entering new schools, and on and on until I finally found myself entering my own children in new schools and so on and so on. Change is an devilish wench, albeit a necessary evil. Get ye gone!
And yet from the day we're born, to the day we die, we're changing. Without change, we cannot grow. Without digging out the drains and cleaning out ditches in the median, the road ahead of us will flood. It will be murky, rocky and steep.
Viewing the changes I see on the highway, I'm reminded of my manuscript, the avenues of plot laid out with smooth asphalt S curves or W plots, satisfying intersections of motivation and conflict veering off with turn lanes/subplots. The detours we face in revisions and edits, road blocks/walls, highways and byways pose a need for change before achieving that ultimate polish that sets a manuscript apart. Scenes cut. Secondary characters axed. All in the name of improvement, marketability, professionalism. Good changes. Needed changes.
Fall is here. Winter is coming. And in the face of change, I'm bucking like an unbroken Mustang. Change is good. Sometimes change is needed. But oh I'd sure like to give that devilish wench hell in the meantime.
Are you facing any changes? How do you handle change?
Katherine Bone
DUKE BY DAY, ROGUE BY NIGHT 10/29 Crimson Romance
www.katherinebone.com
Okay, Listen Here
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Change = A Good Thing
Life takes on new meaning when the life you've known changes. Who likes change? Most of us don't. But then there are times when change brings adventure and adventure breeds amazement.
Growing up in the Army I was bred for change. Though I did not like it when change came my way, I stepped up to the plate and swung my bat, eagerly getting my foot in the door, meeting new people from different lands, and building a life for myself somewhere I'd never been before.
As an Officer's wife, I had to initiate change, become the facilitator of change. My job was to make sure that change did not overwhelm those around me, especially my family when LTC was away on tour of duty. Change helped me adapt, and as I adapted, I blossomed and grew stronger.
Parents struggle with change on a day to day basis. Children grow up too fast and learn things a mother would never want them to know. But that is the world we live in today and each generation must change with the times. (Not wanting to conform, I can often be heard rebelling from the mizzenmast. Pirate!)
Recently my cell phone died. This not only perplexed but angered me. I lost all the pictures of my family and friends, as well as pictures of places I'd been. I lost most of my contacts too. I might as well have been marooned on a island with one shot. Though it seemed like the end of the world (Cheryl blogged about that yesterday) I quickly came to realize how much I needed modern technology and a roof over my head. Let's face it, an old timey cell phone just doesn't appease my newly developed twitter and facebook habit. Instead of being able to peruse e-mail at my fingertips, I was forced to sit in front of my computer.
Life appeared lost for half a day. Then as change gave way to acceptance and acceptance to tolerance, I realized that I was not defined by modern technology, that I could exist without instant gratification. When asked if I wanted to expedite my replacement phone, I spoke bravely, "No, I can live without it until the new one arrives."
How quickly words come back to haunt us! Jean says I developed 'buyer's regret' and I agree. Before I'd hung up the phone, I doubted I'd made the right decision to forego paying extra money to get my phone in the mail earlier. I lamented throughout the weekend that I'd made the wrong decision. Why did it matter so much? What was a day or two or three?
Well... after I'd resigned myself to accept the delivery on July 18th, I was surprised to see the phone arrived in the mail much sooner than expected. And, oh! what a fine replacement it is!
Though the same model, the software is updated. You see, change can be good. Change can open your world to even greater possibilities.
Change = A good thing! No more worries about being stranded in a calm sea without a rudder.
What changes are you making in your life? What changes have found you when you least expected them?
Growing up in the Army I was bred for change. Though I did not like it when change came my way, I stepped up to the plate and swung my bat, eagerly getting my foot in the door, meeting new people from different lands, and building a life for myself somewhere I'd never been before.
As an Officer's wife, I had to initiate change, become the facilitator of change. My job was to make sure that change did not overwhelm those around me, especially my family when LTC was away on tour of duty. Change helped me adapt, and as I adapted, I blossomed and grew stronger.
Parents struggle with change on a day to day basis. Children grow up too fast and learn things a mother would never want them to know. But that is the world we live in today and each generation must change with the times. (Not wanting to conform, I can often be heard rebelling from the mizzenmast. Pirate!)
Recently my cell phone died. This not only perplexed but angered me. I lost all the pictures of my family and friends, as well as pictures of places I'd been. I lost most of my contacts too. I might as well have been marooned on a island with one shot. Though it seemed like the end of the world (Cheryl blogged about that yesterday) I quickly came to realize how much I needed modern technology and a roof over my head. Let's face it, an old timey cell phone just doesn't appease my newly developed twitter and facebook habit. Instead of being able to peruse e-mail at my fingertips, I was forced to sit in front of my computer.
Life appeared lost for half a day. Then as change gave way to acceptance and acceptance to tolerance, I realized that I was not defined by modern technology, that I could exist without instant gratification. When asked if I wanted to expedite my replacement phone, I spoke bravely, "No, I can live without it until the new one arrives."
How quickly words come back to haunt us! Jean says I developed 'buyer's regret' and I agree. Before I'd hung up the phone, I doubted I'd made the right decision to forego paying extra money to get my phone in the mail earlier. I lamented throughout the weekend that I'd made the wrong decision. Why did it matter so much? What was a day or two or three?
Well... after I'd resigned myself to accept the delivery on July 18th, I was surprised to see the phone arrived in the mail much sooner than expected. And, oh! what a fine replacement it is!
Though the same model, the software is updated. You see, change can be good. Change can open your world to even greater possibilities.
Change = A good thing! No more worries about being stranded in a calm sea without a rudder.
What changes are you making in your life? What changes have found you when you least expected them?
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