For most of us in the Southern Hemisphere we are coming to the end (or in my case crossed the finish line and avoiding work by blogging) of our long summer holiday season. How fortunate for us that we have the joy of Christmas and New Year's celebrations on beaches and soaking up the sun in swimming pools instead of trapped indoors by fluffy ice. We like the idea of a "white Christmas" but relish the reality of a beach braai (barbeque) instead.
While mentally preparing to get back to work, after such a long reprieve from the demands of the regular working life that can seem to drone endlessly on, one can begin to suspect that all of the little things that changed in you over the past season will also have changed in others. You have let go of all of the petty irritations of the previous year, and feel like you are a better person, and you assume that when you waltz in to the office everyone will be changed people too. But as you make your grand entrance, only to be met by the sound of keyboards instead of the rapturous applause that you were expecting (because everyone should be grateful to have you back - right?) you realise that these are the same people you left in the office before your holiday began, and you start to wonder if they can see the change in you? Because you certainly cannot perceive a change in them.
We always think of change as a big thing, but in reality it is usually a small thing that is barely perceptible. It is only when all of the small changes start to join forces that people notice a change in another person. In some ways, personal change really is a lot like the change in your wallet (or pocket). It always starts with that one 5 cent coin that you can't find a charity box to get rid of it in. Your jeans can go through the wash 10 times and that sucker will still be in there. Soon however, more coins get added until you realise that your pocket is bulging and your one pants leg has been pulled a bit lower. Now everybody knows that there is change with you - as though the sound of the coins jingling in you pocket as you walk wasn't enough of a give away. For us women who tend to collect coins in the bottom of our handbags, that most essential of accessories, eventually gets much heavier than it was when we bought it! After much rummaging through the year's after dinner mints that you have stashed away for emergencies (what these emergency situations are has never been defined, but you know that you need to have them all) you discover to your joy a stockpile of coins, and you realise that you can now pay for your parking and escape from the mall. Small change, leading to the great escape?
So here's to celebrating the little changes that no one will ever notice - the fact that you take half a spoon of sugar now instead of a whole one; that you have decided to always give old people the right of way and not get angry when you are driving behind them; that you have woken up with a smile on your face for the past week and walk your dog every evening instead of every morning...I celebrate with you when you look in the mirror and decide not to hate what you see, even if you can't bring yourself to love it yet; I celebrate with you where you have made the decision to look inside yourself to discover who you really are, because that decision took courage.
Change is here, it's happening all around us all the time, you are literally changing the atmosphere just by breathing. Never think that your life is not enough to effect change in this world. We are made to change things. We are agents of change. As the parking pay point at a mall close to where I live states "Change is Possible".
While mentally preparing to get back to work, after such a long reprieve from the demands of the regular working life that can seem to drone endlessly on, one can begin to suspect that all of the little things that changed in you over the past season will also have changed in others. You have let go of all of the petty irritations of the previous year, and feel like you are a better person, and you assume that when you waltz in to the office everyone will be changed people too. But as you make your grand entrance, only to be met by the sound of keyboards instead of the rapturous applause that you were expecting (because everyone should be grateful to have you back - right?) you realise that these are the same people you left in the office before your holiday began, and you start to wonder if they can see the change in you? Because you certainly cannot perceive a change in them.
We always think of change as a big thing, but in reality it is usually a small thing that is barely perceptible. It is only when all of the small changes start to join forces that people notice a change in another person. In some ways, personal change really is a lot like the change in your wallet (or pocket). It always starts with that one 5 cent coin that you can't find a charity box to get rid of it in. Your jeans can go through the wash 10 times and that sucker will still be in there. Soon however, more coins get added until you realise that your pocket is bulging and your one pants leg has been pulled a bit lower. Now everybody knows that there is change with you - as though the sound of the coins jingling in you pocket as you walk wasn't enough of a give away. For us women who tend to collect coins in the bottom of our handbags, that most essential of accessories, eventually gets much heavier than it was when we bought it! After much rummaging through the year's after dinner mints that you have stashed away for emergencies (what these emergency situations are has never been defined, but you know that you need to have them all) you discover to your joy a stockpile of coins, and you realise that you can now pay for your parking and escape from the mall. Small change, leading to the great escape?
So here's to celebrating the little changes that no one will ever notice - the fact that you take half a spoon of sugar now instead of a whole one; that you have decided to always give old people the right of way and not get angry when you are driving behind them; that you have woken up with a smile on your face for the past week and walk your dog every evening instead of every morning...I celebrate with you when you look in the mirror and decide not to hate what you see, even if you can't bring yourself to love it yet; I celebrate with you where you have made the decision to look inside yourself to discover who you really are, because that decision took courage.
Change is here, it's happening all around us all the time, you are literally changing the atmosphere just by breathing. Never think that your life is not enough to effect change in this world. We are made to change things. We are agents of change. As the parking pay point at a mall close to where I live states "Change is Possible".
