Change is good.
Or so they say.
I’ve never been a fan of change myself. I like consistency. I like predictability. I like tradition. My perspective on the whole idea of change is well represented by this statement from author Elizabeth Clarke Dunn:
Change is an easy panacea. It takes character to stay in one place and be happy there.
Some change, however, is inevitable. Time passes. Children grow. I age. Reality is a force to be reckoned with. And so I sit here watching my children grow up before my eyes. Emma, my first, now inching ever closer to tweenhood and the surge of independence that comes with it. Grace, my second, is moving from being a no-nonsense little girl to a no-nonsense young lady. Benjie, the only boy, is becoming much more sophisticated in his abilities and his interests–moving from building blocks to Legos, for example. And Callie… my baby girl can’t really be called a toddler any more. She is striding full force into little girl-hood.
And where am I in this mix? I’m still here, in awe of what is happening before me, and slowly realizing that time is passing for me, too. My body isn’t taking care of itself like it once did. My career isn’t moving as quickly as I’d like. College savings? Retirement? I really should do something about that… but that means change for me, too. I don’t like change.
But it’s happening around me and to me. All the time. I can join in and take control of some of what’s happening… or I can sit by and let it happen to me. I don’t like the prospects of the latter, so I guess I’ll have to grow up and be a man about it and become an agent of change.
Well, maybe tomorrow.
Ben Martin is Editor-In-Chief of THE FATHER LIFE. He lives with his wife and four children in the Rochester, NY, area.
Ben Martin is the CEO of THE FATHER LIFE. He lives with his wife and five children in the Rochester, NY, area.