Things Change, part two

Because of all the changes that have happened completely outside of our control, we find that even the things within our control are different.  Our spending is different, our opportunities have changed, our possibilities for many things are not the same as they were three years ago.  While then we could plan to take a five-day trip to Yosemite, there's absolutely no chance of that now.  Then we could spend our money on things that weren't completely necessary, but now we have to watch every penny.

The main point for us to keep in mind, though, is that this isn't such a bad thing.  When we wake up in the morning, we have a roof over our heads, we have heat, and we have food for breakfast.  I have work that I enjoy to go to.  We take many daytrips, and we do our best to see the things that we've really wanted to see in our area.  Our clothes aren't in tatters, and we're able to afford gas for the car.  So all in all, compared to the vast majority of the human population on this planet, we're doing pretty well.

We also have the chance to seek out change to improve things.  I've found work in an area with a much lower cost of living, and we'll be moving there soon.  The job looks to be much more fulfilling in many ways than my current one, and we're moving to a town that looks friendly and attractive.  We're also hoping that there will be work for my wife there, something that never materialized here.

The change doesn't intimidate us, and it doesn't frighten us.  We'll be fine--we both know that.  I'm good at what I do, my wife is good at what she does, and we both adapt well to new situations.  The most important part for me, though, is that we're both willing to take the risk and move on, as we both see it as necessary.  Staying here would not be a positive thing at all, and the change will help us in many ways.  I know many people, though, who aren't willing to make changes, even when life seems to be telling them rather clearly, "You need to be moving on to something new!"

Older cultures used to be good at looking for signs that the winter was coming, signs that a storm was on its way, signs that the world was changing.  We seem to have lost our ability to look for those signs, though.  In my life, I want to keep my eyes open so that I can see the signs, and then decide to make changes or not based on what I see.  Our world really does talk to us, but we have to have our eyes open to see and our ears ready to hear the messages.  Otherwise, we won't be able to make the changes that really need to be made.