“I built my house in the 1970’s” and we have never had water stand there like that before….ever!”

That was my neighbor’s response when I asked him if he was going to start ice skating in his yard (see picture).

It is SO SO appropriate that my first winter in my first house as a single person is the one that rings all kinds of newness to the neighborhood.  God just keeps making me smile.

When I asked my daughter if she wanted to stay in the house that we had been in as a family or sell it, simplify, and make memories, that wonderful kid of mine said “lets make memories!”  So we are.  From the small ones, like gliding on ice around the neighbors yard, to the large ones, like traveling around the country for her sport, we are spending quality time together.  We LOVE it.

This is all possible by embracing change. I KNOW what you’re thinking….for many of us, change is so challenging. The changes my daughter made over the last year were significant in number and scope, and I couldn’t be more proud of her for holding her head high and taking risks. I know that she worried about all the things that she would lose by the changes we were making, but I think God helped dilute those thoughts by overpowering dreams of what she could gain.
That’s the facts of change. It really boils down to that. It’s a risk and with risk, you stand to lose some things. On the other side of the coin, you can gain as much or more. We can’t ever convince anyone else to change. What we can do is be role models for change.

Not long ago, I stumbled on an old article called Good Grief which was written by Glennon Doyle Melton and published in “Oprah” magazine in 2017. In much of the article she spoke about parenting kids through challenges and the fear that they have about change. She mentioned advice from a friend who had suggested when people are afraid of turbulence on an airplane, that they all look at the stewardess. If the stewardess looks calm, the passengers feel assured. So, our kids will look at us when they are afraid, and we need to look calm, and just keep “passing out the peanuts” like the stewardess does.

As a person who has gone through significant change recently, I can say that it happened because I finally made the decision that it needed to.  I realized that the benefits of change would outweigh the losses that I faced.  And they already have!  I’m gonna keep passing out the peanuts and I am going to do it with a smile and with great thanks to God.

Being grateful leads to positivity.  I could have looked at all the water in my neighbor’s yard that was creeping my way with dismay.  Instead, my work Al-Anon brain kicked in and I chose the glass half full,  and as a place to ice skate.