Ah, yes. Change is good.

Welcome (back) to my blog dear reader! I am so glad you are here. 😄 I hope you enjoy your time here.

Yes. My title for today is a quote from The Lion King. And Simba's response of "Yeah, but it's not easy," is a great way to summarize my thoughts for this post. To be perfectly honest I greatly dislike change. I love having a routine and when I fall out of one it definitely affects my mood.

So why is change a good thing? From my personal experiences, there are a few reasons why I think I don't like change.

But first off, I wanted to give a shout out to Ryan and Danny on the Two Catholic Dudes Podcast for helping me think of this idea for this week's post. (Check out their content here, it’s fantastic)

Why do I greatly dislike change? Number one I'm a creature of habit like I said. Routine makes me happy and when I find something that works I stick with it. If something were to happen to disrupt that pattern I become all off-kilter. Also as I have mentioned before in other posts, I have mental health struggles that are affected more when I am outside of a routine.

That brings me to number two. My anxiety spikes at the idea of change. The “what-ifs” are a powerful deterrent if I let them take over. In order to avoid those issues I just don't make the change. (Whoops)

I think one of the biggest things though is number 3: Pain. Change can be so painful as we're going through it. The example that the guys use in their podcast episode was working out. Discomfort, whether it is mental, physical, and emotional, is not fun. But sometimes the temporary pain can lead to something even better. Pain can also mean a loss if we were to make a change. We could lose a friend, walk away from a job, or move across the country.

Even though these changes are painful what comes after can be even more wonderful than what you had before the change. This is especially true when we're making a change to follow God's will for our lives. Making the decision to attend Mass regularly and living according to the way Jesus calls us to does not seem like the most enjoyable thing from first glance but He loves us too much to leave us wanting more when we follow Him.

Alright, we decided to make a positive change. Now what? Does this mean that we have an easy road from here on out? Abso-freakin'-lutely Not! Change is painful and hard because it is not a one-time choice and a wave of a magic wand. The choice has to be made every day. Again I'm going to quote the working out example from Danny and Ryan. When you lift weights or go to a spin class or do cardio your muscles tear then grow back stronger. But again it's not an overnight change. It is months of work.

There are no shortcuts to making lasting habits. Shortcuts only work in Mario Kart and even then I still suck at them. The moral of the story is to take a long way. It is more scenic and you will understand your “course” of action. (Ba dum tss, Mario Kart pun. 😄) In all seriousness, there is nothing wrong with taking a long way. You just have to leave a little earlier! So what are we waiting for! The best time to start was yesterday, the second-best is right now. Let’s get after our goals for change. ‘Cause being the best version of yourself and who God made you to be is some serious beauty in the crazy.

☀️💙