The very thing that keeps the world spinning and swirling around is change. If there was never change we would still have a president who was dead. We would never have the internet. We wouldn't learn anything, and there would be nothing to learn anyway. Nothing would be new under the sun.
Doesn't that sound boring?
And then we walk around crying about the devastation of change.
(Don't worry, I'm also on the anti-change committee. I would say I'm the vice president.)
Change really sucks. And it always seems like it happens right when we get comfortable.
When I was younger (in my pre-ice skating days) I would go to birthday parties and things at places like ice skating rinks and roller skating rinks. And trust me, I hated it. I felt out of control, I felt like I was failing, I felt like a total disaster.
And every time, just when we were about to leave, I really started to get the hang of things. (Perhaps this is why I didn't become a famous artistic roller skater.)
Change really sucks. And it always seems like it happens right when we get comfortable.
We actually start to like someone at work, and they leave or get promoted.
We actually get the swing of our weekly routine and a wrench is thrown in.
We finally understand a concept, and we are abruptly sent to the next level.
We get down because, "stuff like this always happens to me," forgetting that it also happens to every other "me" in the world, we think things are our fault.
Honestly, we make it too much about ourselves.
Someone getting promoted or leaving at work doesn't have to do with you, it has to do with him/her.
Our routine changing doesn't have to do with something we have done, things are simply fluid.
It isn't our fault we need to move ahead after mastering one concept, that's just the nature of the game.
It happens to you and it happens to me.
Things change at the most inopportune times.
And it's okay.
I have been attending a yoga studio for over one and a half years and was just informed that they were closing their studio to focus on yoga teacher training and other important things.
One day I was doing poolside yoga, having my teachers take a cute video of my friend Lacey and I jumping in the pool, laughing, seeing their kids play, doing life and being joyful, and a few days later I was reading an email (on an already bad day) about their plans to discontinue studio classes.
Life is weird. And life is like yoga, flowing from one pose, one position, one area to the next. And then life is like jumping in a pool: fast, shocking, disorienting (but also kind of fun.)
I'm sad. So sad. Going to the studio and seeing the smiling faces and getting to know my teachers and peers has been integral to the past one and a half (and more) years of my life. It's a big deal.
But is it my fault? If I would have gone to a few more classes, would they have stayed open? If I would have gotten to know them better, would they have stayed open? If I had invited one more friend, would they have stayed open?
No!
No, because it is not about me. Life is not about me. Change is not about me. Change is a natural thing in life, and I am simply along for the ride it takes me on.
Is it still fair for me to be upset and sad and all of the things?
Of course!
I am feeling a sense of loss and finding myself at a crossroads in terms of what my yoga practice will transform (aka change) into. And those feelings suck, and that's okay.
But this is good news, my friends. We are safe. We don't rule the world, and we barely even control a small part of it.
As Rhianna and T.I. would say, live your life. You aren't going to ruin things. Be sad, be frustrated, be upset, be angry, but remember you are safe still. Things will change, and eventually, things will feel okay again. And then they will change, and the cycle starts over again. But isn't that what keeps life interesting?
Hold on, stay close, be brave.
