CHANGE

[We've been dealing with major changes in our lives--daily, future--so I resurrected this post to give us some positive thoughts. Then I devised a new ending to conform to current times.]

You can always tell when the season is shifting, because I blog about transitions and change. Here’s the latest batch—they’re all visuals because I found the messages encouraging.

 C. S. Lewis, known to many as the creator of The Chronicles of Narnia, became a Christian late in life and wrote many books about faith.

Maya Angelou is known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, as well as for many volumes of poetry.

Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

My  story--my life--is in my hands. Staggering thought, isn't it?

Just one early morning gratitude--mumbled while your eyes are trying to open, before the morning jolt of caffeine, before your feet hit the floor--just one expression of thankfulness can make a difference in how your day starts, continues, and ends.

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Change has shaken the world as we knew it--businesses have closed, some never to reopen; people we know have lost jobs or have trouble finding new ones; schools may be open but everyone is wearing a mask, or sitting far from friends in a normally filled classroom, now half-empty; teachers have two levels of teaching--in-person and virtually. Shopping may be normal, and then again, it may be a disaster, with empty shelves announcing that some of our favorite or much-needed products aren't available.

And yet--somehow we soldier on. We learn to substitute where we can. We find new ways to do old tasks that had grown mindless because we took the old ways for granted. We still rant and rail against change--maybe that's part of our DNA--but we know we're not the only ones going without.

Since change is inevitable, you--and I--might as well try to embrace it. We won't like it, probably, and maybe that's a good thing--if we have to try to come up with a solution to a problem that used to be solved for us, like how to bake a cake without eggs or sugar when there's no cake mix on the shelves, then we exercise our brains. You don't have to reinvent the wheel--just find the guy who made it in the first place. Talk to somebody--have you made a cake without eggs and sugar? How did you do it? Was it any good?

Maybe that's the best solution of all--talk to somebody! Hearing a voice can lift spirits faster than a shot of helium.

Have a wonderful week!