Roll With The Changes
This post was submitted by Krysten Quiles for publication on Social Millennial. Read more about her below.
Change.
Those six little letters, that one word, scares me.
Doesn’t matter if it’s bad change or good change, just the idea that something new and different is about to happens gives me anxiety. Makes me want to hide. Makes me wish for the same ol’, same ol’ so I can feel safe and secure.
I’ll be the first to admit that my fear of change has held me back. I stayed in a bad relationship too long, stayed with a mediocre job too long, didn’t take opportunities that could lead to so much more, all because each of those things meant change; and even if that change was good change the idea of doing something new was enough to make me stay exactly where I was.
In the last year or so, though, it’s like I suddenly woke up. 2015 was not a good year for my husband and me: we dealt with a not so great family situation, my husband was laid off from his dream job, and it just felt as if we were STUCK. I was working a job that I didn’t like very much and day after day I found myself wondering how this could be what life was going to be like.
The last day of 2015 I had to be in bed early because I had to be up early the next day. I didn’t even really get to see my husband that day as our schedules once again seemed to be the opposite of each other. As I waited to fall asleep that night I told myself that 2016 had to be different. I needed to stop being so fearful and together my husband and I needed to work to make the next year so much better than the previous.
Almost like magic things began to change, and although those six letters, that one word, still scared me I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and leaped out into the unknown.
I found a job that aligned more with the things that make me happy in my life. I pushed my husband to find a job that would make him happy as well — and despite the fact that our change up in schedules has made life a little stressful it’s so good to have both of us feeling proud of what we’re doing.
Together we told my parents, who own the house we live in, that we’ve been saving up our money to purchase our own home. Although it’s easy to stay where we are, we’re too far away from our jobs and the life we want to live. And so despite the fact that parting with so much money to invest in a home of our own scares me, we’ve begun house hunting. We’ll be striking out on our own with no help from our families.
I volunteer with an animal rescue and found myself wanting to do more even though I have social anxiety and prefer to be a homebody. I volunteered to go on a two day rescue run to save more shelter dogs, even though it meant a total of 20 hours in an unfamiliar vehicle going to an unfamiliar place. I also volunteered to be the captain of a fundraising team, once again despite my anxieties about being around lots of people.
Slowly I’m learning that even though change is scary it’s also necessary. Change keeps you moving, it keeps you alive, it brings forth opportunities in your life. Without change, what’s the point? I’ve found that through change, both good and bad, I’ve always landed in the places that I’ve felt I needed to land. Sometimes that change just leads you in a direction you didn’t think you’d take.
Change doesn’t have to be scary. And even when it is, it’s bound to lead you on a pretty amazing adventure.
Krysten is the author behind Why Girls Are Weird, a lifestyle blog about her life and all the things she loves. A self-proclaimed book addict, Krysten enjoys YA novels, good coffee, movie marathons, and night swimming in the summertime. Krysten currently lives in a small town in Wisconsin with her husband Izzy and their four dogs.
