Ch-ch-ch-changes

A note of uncertainty creeps into something previously assumed at work and I realize and appreciate once again how tenuous everything all is. Any relationship, job, or other thing that you think is solid and understood could be turned on its head in a day. Gone, or irrevocably changed.

This works both ways of course, as good news can come flooding in unexpectedly as well. Winning the lotto, an old friend getting back in touch, a cancer vanquished, a baby made, etc.

There is good and bad, but there is nothing we can build that is so solid that it can't be torn down. And it is how we handle the knowledge of that fact, I think, that governs our approach to life. Do we stay within a narrow and comfortable range designed, consciously or subconsciously, to limit the opportunity for the unexpected to find us? Hoping that by crouching low in the bushes, the winds of fate will pass us by, unnoticed.

Or is it better to live at the opposite extreme, dancing constantly along the edge, not only inviting and welcoming change, but inciting it, laughing at and tempting fate, living hard, as though every day was your last. Maybe. Although practically speaking, that sounds exhausting and is not very realistic for most of us.

As an aside, I am reminded of a news story I heard recently about someone who was diagnosed as having just months to live. They promptly quit their job and spent every last dime living their remaining days to the fullest. They then learned that they had been misdiagnosed and were not in any actual danger of dying anytime soon. This caused the person to promptly sue his doctors for lost wages, etc. And really, if you think you are dying and are then rewarded with additional time on earth, what better way to live life to the fullest than to embark on several years of soul-numbing litigation.

Anyway, I live somewhere in the middle, as I expect most people do (that's what makes it the middle!). Despite being the most easy-going member of my family growing up, the most easy-going person in a family of worriers is still a worrier. Further, the crush of responsibilities that comes with adulthood and kids has not done me any favors in this regard. Still, the challenge that I face is to take this awareness that all things are fleeting and that change, for both good and bad, is inevitable, and to use it as a positive force in my life. To appreciate the small happiness's that are part of every day if you are looking for them, to hug my wife and kids every day and tell them that I love them, to push myself to take chances, keep growing and learning, embrace change as part of life, and to generally strive to live joyously and in the moment rather than beholden to any vague fears about what may come to be. And, to the extent that I have been increasingly successful in this regard in recent months, it has been a pretty damn good year so far.