Embracing Change

Change is never comfortable, but it is necessary.

I lived the first 18 years of my life in one house, went to one school, did one sport. And then I started moving; changing apartments and house, changing states and countries; changing roommates and occupations. I dread the shift every time it approaches. The ripping myself out of the known and throwing myself into the unknown.

Becoming a mother has been the same experience. The fear of my body shifting away from the familiar and then welcoming a stranger into my home and heart. Painful, but necessary. And good. It pushed me into weaknesses that made me stronger.

Starting a new company has all the factors of change that I know so well now. The excitement of something new. The dread of losing what is good in the known. The uneasy feeling of walking forward without knowing what is ahead.

But every move brings strength. Our bodies tell us this when we workout. The land speaks this when it is tilled. Our hearts whisper this when they open to love and the fear of loss. Change breaks us to make us stronger.

So as we step forward on this new adventure I’m keeping my past growth in mind, attempting to assuage fear in the knowledge that only change, and change is always painful, can bring about growth. And if you’re not growing, you’re dying.