I’m a grumpy old man. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the picture of me that usually accompanies my column–a grumpy old man yelling at his phone.
One thing that makes old men grumpy is that they get set in their ways. Grumpy old men don’t like things to change. The world works a certain way, and by-golly that’s the way it should always be! Right? Life is easier if everything always stays the same. Isn’t it?
But, in the real world, nothing stays the same forever. Things are always changing, no matter how many grumpy old men yell at the clouds, or how loudly they do so.
I’ve got some major changes coming up soon in my life, and I’ve been thinking a little about how sometimes changes can be good for us.
Twenty years ago, I was a single guy living alone. I hadn’t been on a date in years, and I was pretty much set in my ways. I wasn’t looking for change–I was mostly content. And then a couple of old friends introduced me to their neighbor, which didn’t seem like a life-altering event at the time, but boy-howdy that’s certainly how it turned out! Before long, I was dating…then engaged…then married! It was quite a change, and it was a change for the better!
When I was 40 years old, I had no kids. Zero. I had lots of free time and a reasonable amount of discretionary money I could spend on whatever I wanted. Ten years later I had four children, spent a significant percentage of my time shuttling those children to all the places they wanted to go, and most of my money went toward fuel for driving them around. But, despite what it might sound like, I’d still classify those changes as very good.
Over the years, I’ve changed jobs several times. Some times it was because I chose to change. But, a couple of times it was NOT my choice–once because the place I worked went out of business, and once because the place I was working told me not to come back. (I was fired.) And while that change was not something I wanted at the time, in the end it turned out to be a good thing.(Imagine that: getting away from a boss that yelled at me turned out to be a pleasant change!)
So, when you look into the abyss of impending uncertainty, there’s no need for gloom and doom. Changes happen all of the time, and, so far, we always manage to survive them. We might not be able to see it at the moment, but sometimes change is for the best.
