It was 11 months ago that I wrote my Editor’s Note about change (https://nonahoodnews.com/editors-note-change-air/). A heck of a lot has happened in that time. I’m learning to embrace change as a vehicle for opportunity, improvement, self-reflection, and discovering what I’m really capable of and what I really want in life.

I have many favorite quotes, but one that has been prominently displayed on my fridge door for more than six years – the watercolor image here with the quote – has been a constant reminder to me that painful moments can stretch us to become more than we anticipated was possible. “If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.” Who wants to live in a world without butterflies? Not me!

I definitely do not want to become rootbound or stagnant. I thrive on learning and growing. But, I’ve struggled to reconcile this need and desire with the accompanying growing pains, uncertainty, and stepping outside of my comfort zone. Nothing is more consistent, certain and inevitable than change itself. So, I’ve decided that embracing it – even expecting it – is the only way to lessen the pain and find joy.

We often treat change as the enemy, and we resist it without even knowing the results of the prospective changes. It’s human nature. But, without change, we cannot progress. It is a fact of life, and we are better off if we learn to use it to our advantage and recognize the good that comes from it. If we are thoughtful, careful and mindful, change can be profound and rewarding.

In his book Mere Christianity, author C. S. Lewis taught the value of change, albeit in our limited vision at times, by sharing the following analogy: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan Co., 1960, p. 160).

Have you ever felt that you were happy with being a cottage but were being pushed to become a palace? What could you do with another wing in your “living” house?

Speaking of wings, I’ve always been fascinated by the metamorphosis of butterflies and moths. As they emerge from their cocoon or chrysalis, the intense struggle pushes the fluid from the body of the insect to the wings. Without this struggle, the insect would be doomed to have shriveled wings and never fly. The butterfly is vulnerable during this radical transformation, but the end result is undeniably one of the most beautiful things in nature. What a tragic experience it would be to interrupt this dramatic change prematurely and destroy the magnificent creature. No rational human would do that intentionally to the insect … so why do we do that to ourselves?

Perhaps it’s a lack of understanding. Maybe it’s a low tolerance for the pain and a desperate desire for the pain to stop. I agree that one of the biggest challenges in life is to have the vision and foresight to relax long enough for the process of change to come to completion.

I suppose I could prepare a long speech on the subject as I am still researching and trying to wrap my head around it all myself. I think it’s a lifelong learning process, really. But, I’ve at least resolved to embrace change and allow it to happen while clinging to the idea that, while progress is often accompanied by growing pains, the wings that we create and develop with the changes will be well worth the effort and patience.

Don’t stifle your wings, Lake Nona. Allow yourself to fly!