Change Your Perspective 🌱

I personally love change. These days, I seek it out. I chase it. I thrive in it. But I’ve learned that change hits each of us differently.

For me, perspective is everything. Being transparent, my family dynamics were strange and dysfunctional. Change wasn’t an occasional visitor; it was a defining characteristic of my upbringing. As the oldest of six homeschooled children who were intentionally left without official documentation due to my parents’ religious beliefs, I had to learn to thrive in continuously changing environments by necessity.

We moved four times before I was driving age, and my parents’ choice for religious exemption from civic participation all too often exempted me from belonging and consistency. Day to day and week to week, regularity eluded me in my schedule, my schooling, or my legal status.

On top of the chosen instability, living in a college town meant that most relationships that I developed were, by nature, transitional. I cannot count the number of friends lost to “Dad finished his doctorate” or “Mom got a new job.”

While the particulars of my circumstances may be unique, I don’t think my story is uncommon. The chaos of my childhood taught me to embrace change as a constant companion rather than an insistent enemy. Yes, change can be hard, but it is also one of our few constants in life.

Change is hardest when we’re passive participants, when it’s forced upon us without our say. But when we choose change — a new job, a new routine, a new diet, or a new wardrobe — it feels exciting because we’re in control. We’re in the pilot’s seat.

The real pain comes when change arrives like an uninvited flood. When waters rise out of their bed and into our home, we can’t hold back the flow. But there’s something we can always control: our perspective. You can’t always choose the change, but you can always choose how you see it.

Perception is reality. So I encourage you: change your perspective. Take an active role in the changes life brings your way. Even if you didn’t start it, you can finish it.