Up until recently, I could have written a book that told my entire life story and it would have only required a single chapter to finish. This was such a depressing realization.
Then I figured out that I was the one responsible for this. That's because, for the majority of my life, I chose to avoid change. And because change was relatively missing in my life, a single chapter for my self-biography would have been sufficient.
You see, change, or the even the thought of it made me very uncomfortable. And discomfort was a sign I needed to stop what I was doing right away or just avoid the situation altogether. So if given the choice between changing or staying the same, I would choose the latter. It seemed like the safe and logical thing to do and it made life so much easier. I could just keep on doing what I already knew how to do and not have to endure the pain of learning something different.
Then, five years ago I suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. That's when major changes unexpectedly roared into my life and a second chapter began without my permission.
In this new chapter, though, I eventually went from seeing change as optional and avoidable to something that's required and inescapable. I realized change is actually a good thing and I shouldn't have been running from it for all those years. Change helps you grow. It forces you to mature. It makes you stronger.
If I continue to have this new perspective on change, the many chapters in my life story are yet to be written.
