There are many ways change occurs in our lives. Sometimes it is quick and jarring, leaving trauma and drama in its wake. These are the changes that make you consider living a different way. Nothing will ever be the same. But more often, change is like a dripping faucet. As each drop slowly accumulates, you never notice until the thing that once was one way is now totally another. Change is happening to us all day, and Heraclitus was right; it is one of the constants we can always rely on. All we can do is work on our ability to accept change and make choices to roll with it.
Getting Better or Getting Worse
Each of us is changing every day, and it is important to take stock of ourselves and where we are in life. Each day we are either getting better, or we are getting worse. Nobody is staying the same. It is impossible. The movement may be minuscule and hard to see, but you move in one direction or the other each day. That makes it important to know exactly where you are in all areas of your life, physically, spiritually, mentally, or financially so that you can understand your progress.
Each of us makes decisions both large and small, which will dictate your direction. Do I go to the gym or skip today? Do I spend money on that new pair of shoes or not? Do I practice kindness or not? Do I participate in gossip or not? All of these and many more choices are made by you each day, and the only person responsible for them is you. You are in control of your destiny and determine if you are getting better or getting worse.
Accepting Change
Change is so difficult for most of us because we are so attached to our current lives. Even if things are not perfect and things are changing for the better, it is our instinct to resist because deep down, we are afraid that a change may make things worse. It may not be perfect now, and I may not enjoy my circumstances, but at least I can handle them. Don’t fear the changes that are happening in your life. Let life flow, and it will most often take you to a better place.
If you have a goal and it doesn’t involve your current job, relationship, or the area you live in. You can’t be afraid when life starts moving you in a new direction. All of your dreams and goals will be found by trying something new and accepting the changes that come into your life. Each new change will teach you a skill and help you become a better, more well-rounded person. Accepting change will allow us to grow.
Life is full of ups and downs; things will never stay the same, and change is happening every day. Your choices can help dictate the direction of the change that you experience. When the big ones come, a death, the loss of a job, or the ending of a relationship, understand that pain is a part of the process of letting go. It will never be easy because we have attachments to people and situations. Circumstances will come, and they will go, love people as best you can, enjoy each second of all situations because one way or another, it may all be over at any time.
“The only thing that is constant is change.” ~Heraclitus
One of the most consistent forces in the world is change. It is an always working force that is mending and pushing everything in the world.
Why is Change so difficult?
Change is difficult because either events are going great and we don’t want them to change into something else. Or even if the changes we experience are going to be good, it is our instinct to resist because deep down we are afraid that a change may make things worse. So any change is initially resisted.
What your goals have to do with it?
Look at your goals in a career, relationship, or any other aspect of life. if they don’t include the things that are currently in your life then you can’t be afraid when life starts moving you in a different direction.
All of your goals and dreams will be found by trying something new and by accepting the changes that come into your life.
Change all Around YOU
Since change is happening all around you and to you at every moment. It would make sense to create a plan to try to benefit from this process. Rather than be an object helplessly tossed around by the waves of change, it makes sense to have a plan to deal with change and ride those waves. The waves are coming, you will change, life will change. It is your choice to grow or not from the experience.
Each change that is new will teach you a skill and allow you to become a better more well-rounded person. Accepting change will allow us to grow.
A picture I took at a random location of the fall foliage.
The lessons that nature teaches us are on display all around us each and every day. All we have to do is listen and being fortunate enough to live in an area the has a distinct four seasons, I am lucky to experience these changes and I am grateful for it.
For many years I am ashamed to say that I never really enjoyed or contemplated too much about it, but lately, I can’t help but be amazed and think about all that the changes of the season bring to the world. Right now it is autumn in Maine and that means that each and every day you will see a wide array of colors, red, yellow, orange and even brown. This change where once there was only green makes you think and often about gratitude.
On the Surface
Seeing the leaves change is a pretty miraculous thing. To think that nature knows exactly how to work itself for the trees to survive is amazing, and further than that there is the show they put on. I have been fortunate enough to see, bright-colored leaves reflecting on the still waters of a fall lake surface. It brings many thoughts to my mind as I look at the colors and understand them for what they are. Harbingers of what is to come and we merely need to listen to hear their warnings and to learn from them.
Change Is Constant
One of the best reminders of fall is that change is happening all around us all the time.
Leaves are falling all around, it’s time I was on my way.
You may not be able to see it visually, but everything is changing all the time. These variations are usually never as visual as the leaves but they are as real. Each relationship, job, and personal journey is changing all the time.
No matter what you do and no matter what you think of your current circumstances, it matters little because soon they will be different because things are always changing. Just like the fall will eventually give up its life to the oncoming winter, so must we learn to let go of our attachments to this life.
It is the values of these changes that make them appear good or bad. Yet aren’t they simply just experiences? The fall season helps me to contemplate and understand the changes that are happening in life all the time. I have a gratefulness inside for all of the changes that have happened in my life and that growth is not possible without change.
Endings Are Just Endings
Another great thought of fall is the twilight of the year, the ending of summer and how this season represents an ending in our lives. The phrase “The Autumn of our Lives”, captures this effectively.
I have a problem with this phrase because we simply do not know with any kind of certainty when this life is going to end. it may be over in five minutes or it may last another 30-40 years. Nobody knows.
When you look at the fall it will have an ending, just as all of our lives will, but there is a hidden promise in the fall. It is there in every nostalgic feeling and thought, that eventually, the spring and beautiful summer will come again. We just need to be patient. All things will eventually end, that is the way that the universe works. All things have a beginning, a middle and an ending.
This is not a bad thing, it is only a thing. So it teaches you to enjoy the summer, or the fall or the winter or whatever season you are experiencing right now because that is all you have right now. There may never be another summer to look forward to, so not completely enjoying today is a foolhardy choice.
The fall makes me grateful for each and every day and what it has to offer.
It would be hard to have a nostalgic music month and not include the decades of creative power the late great David Bowie has provided to the soundtrack of our lives. He had a shock value in the 70’s, which was really before my time, but in the 1980’s he was a part of the MTV video era that introduced me to his music and made me pay attention to his music in more depth. Like with all of these artists it is difficult to choose just a few songs, so I did the best that I could.
Fame– Who didn’t think at a young age that they would be famous someday. I know I always thought I would be a famous athlete. Unfortunately, that plan didn’t pan out. But this song makes you wonder if the price is worth the reward of fame for sure. We should always be careful what we ask for because we just might get it. In our society today, they love to build people up, just to tear them down and then if they can build them back up again. It is a crazy game where celebrity is more important than substance. Fame is probably not worth the cost. Fame makes a man take things over. Fame lets him loose, hard to swallow. Fame puts you there where things are hollow (fame). Fame, it’s not your brain, it’s just the flame. That burns your change to keep you insane.
Let’s Dance– When you are young, dancing is a natural part of your expression. As I got older, dancing became a much harder thing to do. Letting yourself go, for all to see. It was difficult to do. This song takes me back to a time when I was young and danced with a passion because it was fun. As I have got even older, I realize that the only reason we don’t dance is that we are worried about what others think. Since what others think of you is irrelevant there is no reason you shouldn’t give your best dance at every opportunity. Let’s dance. Let’s dance. For fear, your grace should fall Let’s dance. For fear tonight is all. Let’s sway. You could look into my eyes Let’s sway. Under the moonlight, this serious moonlight.
China Girl– This song always reminds me of how fickle a young man’s affections can be. This song came out around 1983. There were many different young ladies that I was “in love” with at that time. I had no more idea of what love was then than I do now apparently. But the memories of all of those experiences make me smile when I think of a young man trying to figure out life, in a school full of a bunch of other young people trying to do the same. All I can say for sure today is that I did the best I could. I could escape this feeling, with my China girl I feel a wreck without my, little China girl. I hear her heart beating, loud as thunder. Saw they stars crashing. I’m a mess without my, little China girl.
Changes– It is a consistent and inevitable force in life that all people seem to have a difficult time dealing with. Looking at your own life you can see the changes that have happened to you physically, emotionally, and in experience. But inside there is still that same person that you always have been. That essence of you never gets old but collects experience. Change is going to happen, enjoy the good things because they won’t last forever. Know that the bad things won’t last forever. Life is change. I watch the ripples change their size. But never leave the stream. Of warm, impermanence and So the days float through my eyes, But still the days seem the same.
Golden Years– This song typifies what this whole Nostalgic Music Month was conceived for. We look back at the past and idealize certain parts of it. Forgetting the negative and building up the positive. To some, there was no better time. To me, I think I am realistic and I try to remember the true past. There was a lot of good but also nothing was easy all the time. There were lessons learned that came at a hard price. There were tough times of loss and sadness. But for today and the purpose of this song, we are looking at the days of our youth as the golden years, where life was all before us and we could do anything. Even though there are fewer sunsets in front of us than there are behind. The value of our days are still golden. Don’t let me hear you say life’s taking you nowhere, angel. Come get up my baby. Look at that sky, life’s begun. Nights are warm and the days are young.Come get up my baby.
Miley Cyrus by Mike Martin October 26, 2017
Today my daughter, Kyera Ripley, turns sweet sixteen. Kyera is an amazing person, smart as they come, and already has a job.
Miley Ray Cyrus, an American singer, songwriter, and actress, also had a job as a teenager. She became a teen idol starring as the character Miley Stewart in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana in 2006, starring alongside her daddy Billy Ray Cyrus, who became famous with his – Achy Breaky Heart
Mike Martin’s favorite show
Kyera is not a Miley Cyrus fan, but she and I must have watched a few hundred of episodes of Hannah Montana together. Don’t tell anyone, but I really liked the show. Though a little racy at times, the family show is filled with life lessons and provided great topics for conversations during Kyera’s Hannah Montana years.
I can’t imagine growing up in the public spotlight, the pressures and judgments must be unbearable. Miley has been overly securitized and condemned. With all that nonsense, she has remained confident and is still adored by many.
Billy Joel, a famous American singer-songwriter, and pianist seems to have much admiration for Miley Cyrus when they performed New York State of Mind together at Madison Square Garden
Billy Ray must be as proud as Miley as I am of Kyera. Being a young person in 2017 is a challenge. Because of Social Media and generations of overly critical adults, the young people of today are experiencing hate, jealousy, and loathing, on a scale that has never been seen before.
My advice to all you overly critical Asshats. Take a good long look in the mirror and fix your own house before trying to condemn a generation, that basic biology says, are a heck of a lot shrewder than yourself
My advice for Kyera on her 16th birthday. Don’t listen to the hate honey, trust in your instincts, and always remember it is not where you are going but how you get there.
The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
‘Cause there’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah!
Please, have a great day, and if you have any questions, drop us a line and please partake in #OctoberNostalgicMusicMonth and while you are at it take a trip to Greenville, Maine-I understand the foliage is majestic this time of year! #visitGreenville
There are many ways change occurs in our lives. Sometimes it is quick and jarring, leaving trauma and drama in its wake. These are the changes that make you consider living a different way. Nothing will ever be the same. But more often, change is like a dripping faucet. As each drop slowly accumulates, you never notice until the thing that once was one way is now totally another. Change is happening to us all day, and Heraclitus was right; it is one of the constants we can always rely on. All we can do is work on our ability to accept change and make choices to roll with it. 
other each day. That makes it important to know exactly where you are in all areas of your life, physically, spiritually, mentally, or financially so that you can understand your progress.
circumstances, but at least I can handle them. Don’t fear the changes that are happening in your life. Let life flow, and it will most often take you to a better place.
Autumn officially began on Sunday
Autumn: Turning Over A New Leaf
