Week 48 - ending 12/2: How Much Change

All my life I have had a resistance to change. I never saw the reason things couldn't just stay the same. Even when life worked out for the better, I often longed for the familiarity of what was before.

When I was young, I found out my life was destined for change. I am living in a different country from my birth and about 6,000 miles away. Interestingly enough I have landed in a place where many people's lives do not change much. They live in the same, and only, house they have ever known. All of their family is here. They find love in high school and never part. Essentially, the life I had always thought I wanted. The life I still think was meant for me. The life I feel like I missed out on. The life that, I don't think, would force me to face so much struggle.

As I live in this place I do notice foreigners coming in and changing what is around me. The things I remember from when I first moved are changing. It's as if people are moving here because they love it, but then come here and change it.

I begin to wonder, when you move somewhere you love, how much of yourself do you bring and try to force change? For if you do, you are changing what you originally fell in love with.

One example of this change I notice when I am driving. Regardless of whether or not someone let me into the lane or let me go, I always waved to say thank you. Lately, I have noticed less and less of that behavior. People seem to have lost the spirit that once made this place so special.

It makes me sad to see how some things are now, but relish in the people, words and places that still remind me of the times before change.

As for me, I understand the only constant is change and I adapt. However, it doesn't mean I don't still wonder if I would have missed much never leaving or changing.