Don't Go Changing (S. V.)

We are raised to stick to our guns, stand by our convictions and not to give up when we KNOW we are right...for US!!!! If we listen well, we let these 'orders' guide us and then suddenly we are the adults with newlings to raise and form. We clearly cannot foist our belief and/or value systems on anyone, not even on our children, but we can demonstrate through our actions so they can get the gist of who we are. Hopefully, they will find at least a few things to emulate and then to incorporate into their own set of values and the ways which they think are right for them. As we get older, if we are in tune, we may recognize that we need not stagnate or mark time. How fortuitous that there really are options available; we can stay on the narrow road and continue to be inflexible, we can hang on tightly in order not to cede control, or we can step back, become more mellow and be open to what in the past might have seemed too scary. Sometimes the mere mention of the word 'change' is enough to strike great fear in the hearts of many. I believe that the key to overcoming the panic that thought of change provokes, is to be vigilant and not to change the you that is at your very core who you truly are 'au fond'. All the other components should be like Lego, easy to connect once you've learned how to play so that you really can connect. You may be lucky enough to get to a point where you can let someone in; let them see who you really are without all the protective barriers that you have so painstakingly erected and which have been intact for most of your adult life. If you choose to let yourself be truly visble, then you choose to allow yourself to be vulnerable and with that choice you forefit any guarantee that you will be safely protected. For this reason, you must be careful in your choices because the wrong person will not be able to see you. the wrong person will be lost in their past and on a plane so far below yours that it will be impossible for them to make the shift that you have made. At the end of the day you will be much stronger than you ever thought possible as you leave the old carapace behind and become the butterfly you never thought you could be. Just don't go changing the things that have always made you the individual that you are.