OT Embracing Change from WW book

[Guest guest]

Embracing Change It's gone. For the twenty-five yeas I've lived in our town, it was there, and now it's no longer. If I think back, I might recall some whispers at a neighbor's cocktail party about its demise, but I ignored them in the same way I would have ignored a rumor that the man across the street was carrying on with the new mail woman. Preposterous. Coming home from a business trip a few weeks ago, I approached our street in the same manner I had for More than two decades, and then I way it- or, should I say didn't see it. Our blinking light was gone. To some of you this might sound like a who-cares

kind of occurrence. But to me this was a big deal. The blinking light was probably first installed in the '60s or '70s in an attempt to get drivers to slow down as the went done one of the main thoroughfares in our village. The hope was it would help prevent accidents. But as everybody knows, over the years not much slowing down has occurred. So if I had been sitting on the recent committee that decided to dismantle the light, I might have even voted aye! But that wasn't what the blinking light meant to my family. Oh, no, it had a much more important role in our lives: When giving directions to a barbecue, holiday party, or sleepover, "turn at the blinking light: were the final words; when telling a friend you'd meet them halfway to go for a walk, it was always "Let's meet at the blinking light:; and when the kids were young, the blinking light was the limit

for how far they could go without asking permission. You are probably saying, "Get a life!" What I did do was have a Moonstruck moment, smacking myself on the cheek and yelling, "Snap out of it!" I hate to admit this since I regard myself as a pretty easygoing, flexible person. Change is becoming a challenge for me. The light bulb went off when I realized I'd been whining about my blinking light to almost everyone I'd encountered over the past three weeks. I'm always saying, "I love change," but now have to add, "if it's a change I want." Let's be honest, because I know I am not alone. How often do we hang on to a grudge; the ways things used to be; a disappointment? Is it normal to voice some sort of dissatisfaction? Sure. But once is enough, and then

get on with your life! So often people spend more time wallowing in the much of the situation than they do trying to come to terms with it. Here's a news flash! People don't like being around moaners. It's not even healthy for you to be around the complainer if that person is you. You can get pulled further down into the hole of negativity, and climbing out becomes more difficult each and every day. It is sometimes easier to continue to wallow than it is to embrace change, the unknown. And yet the unknown is chock-full of wonderful possibilities just waiting to happen. My challenge to each and every one of you today is to answer these two questions: What is it that you

are having a hard time letting go of? Are you willing to do what it takes to move on with your life? Any time you hear moaning coming out of your mouth, have a Moonstruck moment (a light tap on the cheek will do, accompanied by a hearty "Snap out of it!"). The blinking light is gone. And the world goes on. Shouldn't we?