By Staff
There is an old saying that can be heard throughout the south concerning how quickly the weather can change. “If you don’t like the weather today, stick around, it’s bound to change.”
I’ve heard that pretty much all my life and that saying is true for a lot of things and not just the weather.
Over the past several weeks I have seen changes going on and things taking off in new directions that I never would have imagined.
For one thing, many people in our area have either had their hours at work cut back or cut out completely. That is a change that I’m sure no one would actually wish for, but it is a change nonetheless.
My friend Dewayne recently became a member of the unemployed due to a cut in work at his job. He wasn’t alone, but the change he experienced through that cut is one I know he wasn’t looking excited to see happen.
I have come to realize over the past several weeks that change comes whether you want it to or not. It’s how you handle the change that shows a persons character.
My friend, even though he became unemployed, never lost his smile or his sense of humor. It’s amazing that he can keep a positive attitude about such a life-changing event in his life.
For anyone who has ever unexpectedly, and through no fault of their own, lost a job, you know that it can certainly be life-changing even if only for a little while.
Several years ago, I worked for a company that had to close an entire department due to lack of sales. You can bet that as a single girl, I was certainly devastated to know that the income I had counted on to pay my rent, utilities and gas bill had come to an end.
Luckily, I was able to get another job just a few weeks later, but those weeks when I was among the unemployed were tough. Not only was I worried about paying the rent, but I was worried about having to move back home with my parents. At the age of 23, that’s not something a single woman looks forward to doing.
I’ll tell you that I did move home with my parents and it was a change that was appreciated on both sides of the coin. My parents had their baby back home and I didn’t have to worry that I’d have to eat Raman noodles three meals a day.
There are many kinds of changes that occur in a person’s life — sickness, death, loss of home, loss of job – but rising above those changes and using them as a lesson on how to handle, or not handle, certain situations is the mark of a smart person.
Just last week I lost one of my very best friends in the world. She was a wonderful Christian woman who taught me as much or more about how to be an adult as much as my parents ever had.
Pug was a spiritual mother for me, and her absence in my life has already been experienced. Just Thursday night, I had a question about a particular passage of scripture that I was studying. I actually had the phone beside me when I realized I couldn’t call her. That change hurt once again.
Change will happen whether you like it or not.
Be ready for change. Be prepared spiritually, mentally, emotionally and financially. Although storing up money in the bank is a lot easier than being emotionally prepared for change, preparing your mind and spirit can overcome even the most difficult changes anyone can face.
If you don’t like where you are today, just stick around, it’s bound to change.
Lisa Tindell is news editor for The Brewton Standard. She can be reached by email at lisa.tindell@brewtonstandard.com