This year my family and I took on a large change, to educate the kids at home. Since this was such a big shift for us I have tried my best to keep every other aspect of our lives exactly the same. Afraid too much change would send us all into a tailspin.
You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your
present circumstance unless you change. -Les Brown
What I learned is that we can not change something that important without it affecting many other areas of our life. Even though I have been fighting other changes for the sake of sanity, change is inevitable.
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it,
move with it, and join the dance. -Alan W. Watts
Friends: This is a complicated one. Both for the kids and myself. For the kids there has been some heart break. Especially for my daughter because she feels so much. Many of their "old school friends" faded away, ignoring them, or treating them as strangers. They tried to continue on with some activities at their old school, but it became too uncomfortable for them. Last night I had to hold my crying daughter in my arms as she sobbed "But mama! she was one of my best friends last year, now she won't even talk to me. Why? I don't understand, I'm still a person you know." I can't tell you how badly I want to call that little girl and say GROW UP!
It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim
energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better
things. -Theodore Roosevelt
But there have been very positive friend changes as well. The new friends the kids have made. The sweet people who have entered our lives. Also, the friendships that have endured through it all. These are the "good bits" we cling too.
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. -Isaiah 40:31
Interests: I can tell you I had no idea the things the kids once found joy in would change. Certain activities/sports they've always loved now seem less interesting. With that, new interests have emerged, they have new goals in their lives, new things they want to conquer and learn.
Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor. -Brian Tracy
One of my most favorite changes though is the relationship the kids and I now have. We've always been close, but this is different. They let me in, they completely confide in me. I like it! We are each others classmates at times, being silly with one another. Yes there are days when we don't get along but for the most part it is wonderful. We had to get through the growing pains of these new changes in order to see how great it all could be.
Risk always brings its own rewards: the exhilaration of breaking
through, of getting to the other side; the relief of a conflict healed;
the clarity when a paradox dissolves. -Marilyn Ferguson
There are still a few changes we are working through, each one we are tackling head on. I am just shocked at what an impact this chapter has had in so many areas.
Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and
remove yourself from the unacceptable. -Denis Waitley
I am learning to just roll with it, to be OK with change. Even when it scares me a little bit.
au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...
