CHANGES

Life can change in a blink of an eye. Sounds trite doesn't it? Some changes are planned but there are any number of times, something happens causing that unexpected bump on Life's road that either makes us stronger or leaves us defeated. How we manage to navigate through those bumps shows what kind of "guts" makes up our characters.

Some changes can be as simple as moving from one home to another. I lived at the same address for 25-years until I met my husband and moved to his house. Since then I have moved four more times in the sixteen years we have been married. I think I have adjusted to moving.

Death and illnesses can be major bumps in our road. The loss of my father due to failing health was traumatic, even though it was expected. The loss of my only brother who embraced life and was much too young, was both traumatic and devastating. Yet despite all this, Life moves on and the pain eventually heals. The loving memories of earlier times will always be there.

Marriages and births herald good changes. After all, Life is a balance of bumps and burps, smiles and tears, good and bad. Just as seasons come and go, Life's bumps can be tiny, causing barely a ripple or medium-size, causing a tremour. But, once in a while, there comes a bump the size of a mountain and Life seems to come to a grinding halt. All the changes in your life and how you dealt with them; all that experience comes to the forefront and you know--even as you push your way through this emotional jungle--that, this too will eventually come to an end.

Changes prove you are living life and not just passing through. Life should always be embraced between the bumps, enjoyed to the fullest and celebrated. Despite the bumps along the road, Life definitely goes on. In the words of Robert C. Gallagher: "Change is inevitable--except from a vending machine."