Learning to adapt

I had a few conversations while I was on vacation about the changes of life.  More like reflections than conversations.  Reflections on how life isn’t what it used to be.

Life is always moving forward.  We can’t stop it.

As we go through these seasons, we have to adapt. 

Adapting isn’t always a bad thing.  Sometimes it brings us new experiences, new people, new joy.

But damn it can be hard.

I was having a conversation with an old friend the other day.  We were chatting about getting stuck in the negative, wanting others to change.  And I accidentally “social worked” her.  “Social worked” is when you start wielding out your active listening skills, offering perspective.  Not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose.  The worst part is that she is a social worker herself.  Social workers don’t really like to be “social worked.”  Sorry, Helen.

Sometimes we have to adapt to the people around us.  The reality is that people don’t change unless they want to.  So sometimes we need to change how we react to them, how we relate to them.

When we wait for others to change, resentment builds, anger builds.  We try to analyze why they act or don’t act a certain way.  The fact is that we will never know.  So we need to move on.  We need to adapt.

At times, we have to adapt to circumstances.  And circumstances that we don’t want.  Circumstances that are painful.  Circumstances that change us to the core.

We are forced to adapt.  To find the “new normal.”

Most of the time, we are adapting to the constant change of the seasons of life. We look around us and the faces have changed.  Somehow we all got older.

Our family is different.  Our friends are different.  Our daily life is different.

Spending time with my family, I noticed how different we look.  It has been a long time since I’ve been the youngest in my family.  And my sisters’ babies are now either adults or older kids.

Our lives have changed so much.  My life has changed so much.

I’ve had to adapt.  And I know that I will need to continue to adapt. 

One day, these precious kittens won’t want to snuggle with me in my bed.  And I will need to adapt.  But for now, they do.  And I will take that with me and rest easy tonight.