What comes to your mind when you think of change: Pain? Anguish? Nostalgia for the past? Anger? Fear?

Most humans struggle to accept change and realize that it is a part of life. All human beings on this planet will experience change at some point in their lives, most likely many times.

I am one of those people who has experienced much change in my life, just short of 20-years. My family has moved all over the U.S. multiple times, I have attended many different schools, I have lost loved ones, I have watched friends leave my life and new ones walk into it, I have failed when I was sure I would succeed, and I have travelled the world.

These changes have by no means been easy, but they have all been worthwhile. The change I have experienced shaped into the person that I am today. Being the new girl at school many times has made me more outgoing, losing loved ones has taught me not to let grief take over my life, watching friends leave has taught me that people change, failing has taught me to accept my mistakes and move on, travelling the world has made me a more cultured and accepting person. Change has evolved me into being a kinder, more experienced person than I would have been without it.

I am not sure when or how change received a negative connotation. I understand that change can be difficult to accept, however, challenges make us stronger in life. Change teaches humankind to adapt. It teaches us that the world doesn’t stop when we want it to. Instead of trying to avoid or fight the inevitable change everyone is bound to encounter throughout life, embrace it. Sometimes, the best way to combat our fears is to face them headstrong.