Growing and changing

Growing and changing 

Recently, I was going through some of my old blogs as I am planning on writing another book based on them.

I couldn't believe some of my writing. It was choppy, with run-on sentences, wrong punctuation, and horrible grammar. I am still not perfect, but hell, I've realized that I've come a long way since I started. 

Recently, someone told me how much my writing has grown, that I've come into myself in the last few years. I was happy to hear that as I have made a conscious effort to try to be better. This should be the story of everyone's life, to make a conscious effort to be better, to change, to learn, and to grow. This is what we are here for, to become better people. No matter what age, we must always be willing to learn and change.

Don't be so stuck on stupid that you think you're smart enough where you are at now, that you don't have to. 

Things are changing, times are changing, technology is changing every day, and we must change along with it or get left behind. We must be open to change, and trust me, I get that change is scary. I know, for myself, that the fear of change kept me stuck in a miserable marriage for 24 years. I was so afraid of the unknown that to me, it was better just to stay in that horrible situation than to move forward and change.

We must let go of fear. We must let go of our egos and the fear of failure and just do it anyway. 

Okay, here's an example, have you ever talked to an older person, and they are so stuck in their ways? They say, "This is the way I am." 

and you're arguing "No grandpa, you can do it. Just try!" But they refuse, and it gets you mad that they aren't even willing to give it a chance. Well, that's life, and that could be you one day if you aren't willing to change.

In the last 10 years, I've stepped out of my box more than I ever have. I've done things I would have never done or ever dreamed of doing before. At first, it scared the hell out of me, but as time went on and I kept doing it, the fear became less and less.

Now, I am willing to try anything or to do anything. I know I am not perfect, so I am willing to do things to try to change. I now look at it from other's perspectives, I think okay... is what they said true? Does it hold value? Is this what I am doing? And then I step back and take a good, long, hard look at it and what I can change.

I'm not saying I'm going to change because of what people say, but what I am saying is that I am now open to listening and looking deep in it to see if it will benefit me or if there is some truth to it.

I remember once when my cousin called me and told me that my blog sounded like I was venting and that I was being petty. I took a step back and looked at it from her eyes. I didn't jump into a rant of "What do you know, or don't tell me how to write" like so many people may have. I really looked at what she was saying. I realized that it was the truth.

I was hurt, and I wrote it in that pain, and it showed. She was right, and so I went and corrected it because that wasn't my intent. I listened to what she had to say, and I changed it because I am open to criticism, to change, and to being able to grow.

When I am feeling down about where I am and where I think I am supposed to be by now in my writing career, I think Joyce Meyer didn't step on her first stage until she was 50. Colonel Sanders didn't make Kentucky fried chicken until he was in his 70s. I still have time, and I still have time to grow and learn.

I had a client, he was 92, and he hired me to teach him how to use his new cell phone and new GPS. At 92, he was willing to learn, and I thought I wanted to grow up to be him, still willing to learn at 92! 

With age comes wisdom if we are smart enough to be willing to learn from our mistakes. If we are smart enough to realize that if we are open, we will be learning and changing until we take our last breath.

So today, my friends remember that every day we are on this earth, we have the opportunity to learn and grow. Don't be so stuck in your ways that you stop growing. Like I say in all my blogs, it's never too late. You're never too old. If you want to change, you gotta be the change you want to see. 

"Be the change you want to see,"

@TreadmillTreats