There’s so much change occurring around us. Both in a personal and societal sense. With covid restrictions easing and the end of term drawing in, our lives are being continually characterised by seasons of change, and it can often be hard to adjust. As well as this, circumstances in our personal lives can be subject to change and can cause grief when letting go of these things. There is also an immense pressure to cope and even thrive in these times, to be able to adjust and take all these new things in our strides. But sometimes, it just isn’t as easy as that.
I know for me, being a creature of habit, I struggle when these seasons are upon us. When things I love are lost, when the people I love change, it can be difficult to see the light at end of the tunnel. Over the past year, there has been so much adjustment which for many, has been a challenge. Uni has looked different, and life at large is so far from anything we expected. We’ve lived through unprecedented circumstances where nothing has been constant, but we’ve made it through. When we go through times of change it can be easy to lose sight of what remains. We forget what’s constant and fix our eyes on how difficult our circumstances are. There’s no doubt that what we’re going through is really challenging and there’s no right or wrong way to deal in these times. But from change, we learn to grown and we can be restored through the variation that it provides.
Its complex, but change is part of the story, and loss is an inevitable part of that. We lose things we love, and we learn to cope, change, and adjust. Loss is painful, and it leaves scars, but it gives us restoration. It teaches us to appreciate the things we have in the moment and that life is precious. Grief is heavy and it teaches us a lot about the nature of life. In my own life, watching my father slip away with his illness was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure. But it has taught me to appreciate life in all its wonders as well. In the past year, change has been painful, and it’s been very real and raw. But I can recognise how it’s shaped and changed me as a person. There’s so much more to life and I know the pain I’m feeling right now is only temporary. Having this hindsight is useful but doesn’t take away from the difficulty in the moment.
I’m learning to cope and understand change when it hits, and when it unfortunately comes with loss, how this can be used to grow and develop as an individual. Change is a part of life, and it hurts. But it is crucial and teaches us what is important. However, it isn’t a permanent position, and recognising that these seasons will come and go, and the sadness won’t last forever, is helpful when dealing with these stages of life.