Changes and choices. We face them every day, which can sometimes suck. Sometimes I’d like to have a day with no changes and no choices to make. Just a nice smooth no fuss Groundhog Day kind of day, where everything stays the same just long enough for me to get my balance. And I’m one who actually loves change….most of the time. In fact, if given the choice…..see, they’re everywhere….I’d definitely choose change over status quo.

Some changes are rough, unexpected, uninvited. Like the millions of Americans who suddenly find themselves without a job, without savings, without any idea how next month’s mortgage will be paid. Or a visit to the doctor’s office for a routine check-up that reveals a life-changing health issue. Or a phone call telling you a loved one has died. Suddenly, some things don’t seem so important any more. I don’t have to list them.

I’m pretty sure we don’t consciously summon most changes in our lives. I say “consciously” because, let’s face it, some things we ask for even when we don’t actually “ask” for them…..like the crap that tends to hang around in our lives. We hate crap. Don’t want the crap. And can even say we didn’t ask for the crap. Yet, if we don’t consciously make changes in our lives that lead us away from crap…..we get crap. That’s just the way it works.

Other changes happen because, well, life happens. The kids grow older. The price of gas increases. The grass grows….somebody’s gotta mow it. The sink gets stopped up…..which begs the question, real plumber or the liquid kind? Work that used to be done in the course of a regular work week must now be taken home over the weekend just because that’s now the “standard” in corporate America.

With those changes….the invited ones or the life ones….come choices. You don’t have to buy the kids bigger clothes or pay for piano lessons or give them money for their senior trip. I mean, you could always say no….but really, would you? You don’t have to drive a car. There are bikes and scooters….yeah, right. Don’t even get me started on the sink. We’ve all made the wrong choice on that one no matter which way we went.