What's CHANGE Got To Do With It?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=707916" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Copyright held by</div> <div> Susan Holm</div> <div> 2001 - 2005</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>Galens World</b></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Galens World"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Galen"><U>About Galen</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contacting Me"><U>Contacting Me</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Readings, Classes, Scheduling Informatio"><U>Readings, Classes, Scheduling Information</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE BOOK SHOPPE And Links To Other Site"><U>THE BOOK SHOPPE  And Links To Other Sites</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Facing Fibromyalgia "><U>Facing Fibromyalgia </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Honor"><U>Honor</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spiritual Workout"><U>Spiritual Workout</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Balancing Act"><U>Balancing Act</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Risk....."><U>Risk.....</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Workbook..."><U>Workbook...</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Road To Happiness"><U>Road To Happiness</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Yeah.... but......"><U>Yeah.... but......</U></A>   |   <B>What's CHANGE Got To Do With It?</b>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats RIGHT With The New Age?"><U>What's RIGHT With The "New Age"?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats Wrong With The New Age?"><U>What's Wrong With The "New Age"?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PSYCHICS do I need to hire one?"><U>PSYCHICS do I need to hire one?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Great Ego Debate"><U>The Great Ego Debate</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U>--Type Title Here--</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guest Book"><U>Guest Book</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Message Board Forum"><U>Message Board Forum</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="England Journey"><U>England Journey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basics In Astrology"><U>Basics In Astrology</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Why War, Daddy?"><U>Why War, Daddy?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Political Links: "><U>Political Links: </U></A></div> <div> What's CHANGE Got To Do With It?</div> <div> 08/23/01</div> <div> The one constant in our lives, the one FACT that cannot be refuted, is change.  It's happening all the time, from the cellular level outward.  Every single instant of our lives is governed by change, and yet it's one of the parts of being people struggle with, fight against, and fear most.</div> <bR> <div> When things are going "well", (all's right in your world -- at the moment), the last thing you can welcome and embrace is CHANGE.  That's when all the "what if's" and "if onlys" seem to get in our face, and force us to realize that perhaps we are stagnating in our own version of what is good.</div> <bR> <div> In relationships, when two people are getting along well, the relationship seems to be healthy and both parties are secure, the fear of change can actually push the relationship into a hole, where one, OR both, feel forced to make a conscious decision that they CANNOT change.... cannot grow, for fear that the other will leave them alone...... and alone seems to be one scary place to be.</div> <bR> <div> Yet, we are individuals first, before we become a part of "we"hood, in relating to another.  That individual is having experiences on a moment to moment basis that creates the fluid of life changes so necessary to growing.  I think of it like living in a womb, where everything the mother experiences, her food intake, her health, even her MOOD, affects the infant growing within.  You are both the mother and the child, all the time, learning to care for the child within, and learning to separate from the parent on the outside.  It's still a shock, though, when birth actually takes place!  For everybody.... as this change, from the world of fluidity to a world of earth, air and responsibility......</div> <bR> <div> Think again of an infant.  At birth, human children are completely dependent on another to meet their needs.  Without a caretaker, the body of this child will die.  Without love, this child may survive, only to be in pain every moment of their life.  Without nurturing, the child cannot learn and develop to its full potential.  This childs very existance depends on change.  That it can grow and develop and become INDEPENDENT.  </div> <bR> <div> As a mother, I know there is a celebration with each sign the child is growing.... the first time they smile... (and no, it's NOT gas)....this is a communication between parent and child that is literally STUNNING in it's power.  The child is changing... learning how to charm his or her way into someone else's heart....  in hopes of receiving a fair exchange there.  When they learn how to roll over for the first time..... it's a celebration that the body is growing and the muscles are changing and strengthening; as they learn to talk, to walk, to interact with the world, a parent or caretaker is being given the opportunity to WATCH LIFE HAPPEN.  </div> <bR> <div> It's bittersweet...... for many parents, to watch their children grow up, to leave needfulness behind, to learn to say NO and mean it.  To be able to differentiate between what the individual wants and needs...  (And admittedly, some parents never really get over this, and never truly want to let go, and there are certainly children who never grow out of their need to be taken care of by someone else). But signs of independence in a child is healthy and a celebration unto itself.</div> <bR> <div> Ever love a pet?  A puppy, or a kitten, or any pet, really, (all are equally lovable) that we raise, watch grow up, train, feed, allow them to be spoilt, so that we can fulfill our need to nurture... But a time comes when the pet grows older...slows down, their health may become fragile, and eventually we will bid them farewell.  A Lifetime of change.... witnessed and LOVED, in the lifetime of a pet.</div> <bR> <div> We find work that satisfies.... a job that we like, hopefully, pays the bills, and gives us a place to "go" that keeps us out of the land of nothingness..... Whether we leave HOME to do this work or not, has nothing to do with it.  Work changes; because business needs change, or because of growth or cutbacks, or because it's just simply time to DO something else for ... a change....</div> <bR> <div> And this can devastate.  A layoff, being fired, or having all the kids move away and being left trying to remember how to cook a meal for only 1 or 2, instead of a houseful, can be one of lifes biggest challenges.  It is also one of lifes biggest opportunities.... if you can look at it that way.</div> <bR> <div> Years ago, I met a woman who was in horrible pain because she'd been fired from a job she held for 12 years. She didn't know what she was going to do, she was terrified that she would soon be homeless, starving, lose everything she had worked for.  You can imagine her ANGER at me when she told me that she's been fired, and my response to her was "CONGRATULATIONS!"</div> <bR> <div> Oh she was furious! How DARE I not be upset with her? How dare I not see clearly how hurt and frightened she was.... I told her I saw all that, and I felt great compassion for her suffering, but I then repeated my CONGRATULATIONS to her....</div> <bR> <div> She left, in a huff, pretty sure that I was about the meanest person in the world.  She came back awhile later to ask me how DARE I congratulate her on her loss..... And this gave me the opening to explain. I told her that I had no pity for her situation, for pity would indicate that I felt she had no options; but that in my compassion for her as a fellow Being, I could look beyond her pain and her fear and her self-doubts, and see that the Universe had just handed her a HUGE OPPORTUNITY and she only had to welcome it for it to be hers.</div> <bR> <div> She was still quite angry, and left again, "never to speak with me again".</div> <bR> <div> 2 weeks later, I saw her, and a very different woman she was.  She told me that within a few days of her firing, she'd been offered a job at twice the salary, closer to her home, with a company that believed in advancement from within. She was SO excited about her new job!  I smiled, and said "CONGRATULATIONS" and she burst into laughter.... and said "you have a very limited volcabulary, don't you?"</div> <bR> <div> Then she hugged me and thanked me for believing in her, when she hadn't been able to believe in herself.  She learned that CHANGE can be the best thing that can happen to a person, and perhaps someday down the road..... she'll say CONGRATULATIONS to someone else.... :-)</div> <bR> <div> Learning to embrace the mere concept of change can open new doorways in your life. To show others that you believe in the power of change, and that you can celebrate the hard stuff as well as enjoy the easy stuff.  </div> <bR> <div> CHANGE HAPPENS. All the time, and it's not a bad thing, it simply IS.  If you can look at the changes around you objectively, perhaps you can see the changes within yourself as proof that you are very much alive, and very much a growing being.</div> <bR> <div> Ruts don't work very well.  Living in one means you are living in a hole ... and there's only one way to go from there.  Unless you choose to dig yourself deeper into that hole.  And even then, eventually you are going to have to look UP and see where you can head next.</div> <bR> <div> The Universe usually offers us all kinds of warnings that change is about to happen. Becoming more sensitive to what the Universe is whispering... may make the "sudden changes" less of a shock.  Often, we KNOW what is about to happen intuitively, and can prepare for it. Notice I didn't use the word "Brace" for to brace yourself for something means to try not to move, to steady yourself against the onslaught.  Sometimes, the ONLY way to get thru change is on your knees, not a bad position to take if you need to humble yourself a bit, and weather the change with some assistance.</div> <bR> <div> Change has everything to do with it. All the time; if you are not changing, you are not growing, if you are not growing you are not living. If you are not living, you are numb.</div> <bR> <div> And numb is a temporary condition, NOT A WAY OF LIFE.</div> <bR> <div> Blessings to you,</div> <div> Galen </div> </td> </tr></table></body>