Embracing Change

My footfalls were quiet on the moisture laden grass. There was just enough light so I was comfortable walking through the mist and finding my way. The sun broke over the horizon fully and the mist covered marsh I was standing in suddenly began to come alive. In the part of the world where I live the feisty little Carolina Wrens and spritely Cardinals are usually the first to wake, stir and perform a cappella for any other early risers. This morning this was not the case. As soon as the rays of the sun crept across the marsh it came alive. Small creatures I could not see stirred in the tall grass. Birds of all sorts sang and flew about and great flocks began to fly into the area. It was an awakening.

The sense of sorrow that I felt at other times as I looked out of what is left of Lake Jackson as it recedes during the drought we are having was replaced this morning with a sense of awe and wonderment. As a young man I water skied and fished on this lake. On occasion in the very spot where I was standing this morning in no danger what so ever of getting my feet wet. Where one ecosystem had pulled away, it was being replaced with another. Clearly, this new ecosystem was thriving as the old one faded. Whatever my sense of sentimentality and frustration at the loss of the lake, there is nothing I can do to change what’s happening. In fact, I pondered it just might be a metaphor for a parallel issue that veterans and first responders face.

As a matter of fact its people in general. Veterans and first responders just seem to like it a whole lot less…CHANGE. It is inevitable. Our world changes. Our bodies change. Our situations, environment, jobs and so on. And yet we fight against it as hard as possible. It becomes particularly difficult in retirement. Change is forced upon us because of retirement. We are aging which tends to make us less likely to try new things and open to new ideas and paradoxically it is a time when we should be open to new ideas and trying new things for our mental physical and social health and longevity. Yes, it would seem that this marshy lakebed where I was standing had more to offer than memories of slicing through boat wakes and today’s beautiful. sunrise.

Embrace change. Cherish memories, but work as hard to create new ones as you did to create the old ones.

Carpe Diem.

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