We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sun set left us.

~Kahlil Gibran

Learning to be comfortable with change.

There is not much in this life of ours that we can count on for too long. In fact, the one thing we can be sure of is that life is constantly changing for all of us.

You would think I’d be used to this reality by now, as it slaps me in the face every day of my life. I can’t even tell you how many times I make a “to do” list and find, at the end of the day, that 2/3 of it remains unfinished due to all the twists and turns my day took.

Still I am a creature of habit. Change makes my little heart shaky and scared. In times of uncertainty I often have to remind myself to breathe and become aware of how much it hurts when I do.

I do believe that when a door closes, it’s because another is to be walked through. Still, at the time of its shutting — sometimes slamming —in your face, pain comes to the fore; the heart longs for safety and predictability.

Researchers have found that children will watch a movie or a T.V. show over and over again for this very purpose: to know with confidence what comes next.

But what are we missing out on when we watch the same movie, or relive the same story, over and over? I must say that each time I have lost something — be this a possession, a job or a friend — I have found myself thankful, in hindsight, for the previous door’s “slam.” Without loss there can be no gain. We must forge on to seek what can be found to replace our losses. The alternative? Stagnation. Routine. The failure to really live.

Life is wonderful: this we must remember. As we change, so must our circumstances. Part of being human I suppose.

After all, this human experience is what we signed up for — right?

No heaven can come to us unless
our hearts find rest in it today.
Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which
is not hidden in this present instant.
Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow;
behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy.
Take Joy.
And so, I greet you, with the prayer
that for you, now and forever,
the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

—Fra Giovanni

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Sarah Stevenson, a.k.a. The Tini Yogini, is a Certified Yoga Instructor
with a degree in Behavioral Psychology, serving Orange County
California through yoga classes and teaching life-affirming workshops.
You can visit her here.