A note on change
(And why you should welcome it with open arms)
When I was eleven, I came downstairs to my mom, my knees and back aching. I had grown quite a few inches, seemingly overnight, and everything hurt.
“Ahh, growing pains,” she said. And that was that.
—
But now, I’m 24, and I’m sitting here in my bedroom, and my heart hurts. My chest feels tight, and my head feels like it could explode. My eyes are constantly on the verge of spilling over, and I can’t get a deep enough breath to get the anxiety to pass.
And I hear that whisper in my head, once again, “Ahh, growing pains,”
I guess sometimes they’re not just physical.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that change isn’t linear. And sometimes it hurts.
Friendships you thought would last forever, come to an end. Careers that once fulfilled you, start to drain you. And people you loved with your whole heart, leave.
Ahh, growing pains.
—
The truth is, nothing truly lasts forever. And hearing that feels like a punch to the gut.
But the mere fact that everything comes to an end is what makes life so goddamn beautiful.
Change is not meant to be feared.
Sometimes, change is a whisper. It quietly taps your shoulder and tells you it’s time to move on. It’s that ever-so-slight twinge in your gut that makes you think, “oh, this isn’t right”.
—
But more often, change comes and it takes your perfectly comfortable life, and it flips it upside down. It feels mean, and it feels ruthless, and it feels personal.
Because sometimes, change is here to show us that even when we don’t want to, even when it hurts like hell, even when it’s uncomfortable, it’s time to pick ourselves up and move forward.
Change exists because without it, we’d settle. Without the shove, we’d never move forward. Without the force of change, we’d never willingly risk it all on our own.
So no, nothing lasts forever. But I hope you learn to replace the fear of that fact with hope, with a joy and excitement for what lies ahead.
—
“Nothing lasts forever” is not meant to scare you. It is not meant to make you fear what tomorrow could bring, or what could be taken from you, or what could end as quickly as it began.
Nothing lasts forever, but we don’t know how long it will last either.
We don’t get to know if they’re “the one” until they are, we don’t get to know what true joy is until we experience it, and we’ll never get to live the life we dream of while fearing change.
—
So one day, I hope you learn that change is not here to hurt you. I hope you learn to love without the fear of losing it. And I hope you listen to where your heart calls you to be.
Nothing lasts forever, but one day, it could come pretty damn close.
And I hope you welcome that change with open arms.
Love,
Anne
