Why Is Change So Hard to Embrace?

I don’t know if it’s age, stubbornness or simply fear that makes change so difficult to embrace. I just know that I’ve been struggling to adapt ever since I turned 40. Everything around me is changing, except my pay check, and my ability to hit the lottery.

Am I the only one who feels like I’m running fast but not getting very far? The more I do, the less fulfilled I feel. I can’t quite put my finger on it but time seems to have sped up. It seems all I do every day is breathe, work, pay bills and try to keep my head above water. Every now and then, I find some small pleasure or some small relief. Life has to be more than just getting by. Where’s the passion? Where’s the purpose that our spiritual leaders talk about?

What’s happening to our world? In the midst of all of this change, what is there to look forward to . . . a jacked-up economy, astronomical unemployment, increased poverty, homelessness, fear, homicide, and helplessness? Everything is stagnant. Small businesses are closing up shop. Big businesses are filing bankruptcy or begging for a government bailout. Communities are being held hostage by drugs and degradation. Yet change is constant.

Nothing feels the same. There’s a sense of paranoia in the air that is slowly sucking the life out of everything that use to be fun and normal. People are afraid to spend money, walking on a tight-rope at their jobs not wanting to give their employers any reason to hand down a pink slip. Others are feeling desperate because they don’t know how they’re going to pay their mortgages or their children’s college tuition.

People are working harder and longer than ever before with no vacation in sight. No relief from this vicious cycle. Everything is pending . . . everything is changing . . . nothing is quite the same anymore. Change . . . why is it so darn hard to embrace? Why can’t we just go with the flow? Might happiness be found there? Or is it all an allusion?