The Change

The Change is a song Garth Brooks wrote after the Oklahoma City Bombing. I heard the words the other day on my way to work…after a long week (to say the least!) The lyrics were exactly what I needed that day…exactly. Lately I have been feeling like there are so many people who tell me, expect me, want me to be something different, something other than who I genuinely am. Most people probably feel that way, I guess, but in the last two weeks I have really been faced with trying to balance who I want to be with who others want me to be. And I decided, that day in the car listening to the radio, that this world will not change me.
Now that is not to say that I won’t grow or change at all! I couldn’t be a counselor if that was my outlook…I could’ve been a mailman or a zoo keeper if that was how I felt. I just mean that I like who I am, and I happen to know several other people who like who I am. Therefore, I think I’ll stick with the original (always better than a remake or an imitation anyhow).
In the meantime, I am working on being the best kind of me there is. I’ve been getting up bright and early and walking two miles before (let me stress the BEFORE part) work in the mornings. I’ve also been reading a fabulous book called Stumbling on Happiness (more sociology meets psychological research than the self-help it sounds like) and reflecting on the book I just read called Eat, Pray, Love. I recommend them both! And I’m continuing to avoid caffeine, drink more hot tea and more water, eat three meals a day, get plenty of rest, get ahead on my school work, keep in touch with people I love (and who love me for who I am), moisturize twice daily, and keep my sense of adventure always in my pocket (to be pulled out at a moment’s notice!) I hope you all are able to do the things that make you the happiest and to be fully present when you are doing them…enjoying them to their fullest (even the simplest of pleasures).