Pebbles, raindrops, unicorns, rainbows, and cotton candy clouds

Okay, maybe not the unicorns, rainbows, and cotton candy clouds, but the other two things? Yes.

So I’ve been thinking a lot recently about change, and believe there are two types of change. The first kind of change involves pebbles. One saying I really like is that “It takes a pebble to touch the ocean and move it.” If you think about it, it’s a true statement. Sure, maybe the pebble isn’t creating a tidal wave on the other side of the world, but the ocean needs to move to accommodate the volume of the pebble. And, if we remember our Aesop’s fables, we know what a thirsty crow can do with a bunch of pebbles. So, changes don’t have to be huge or life altering, because results will come whether they’re monumental or miniscule.

The other types of change are like raindrops. Whereas a pebble makes the environment around it change, a raindrop in an ocean becomes a part of that body of water. As the drop falls into the water it is becomes part of the ocean, but the ocean becomes part of the raindrop as well. There is a give and take with this type of change, which can alter both parties, not like the pebble which forces something else to change.

I’m not a huge advocate for just one type of change or the other, but think, like so much of life, a balance is needed. As change is one of the few constants in life, I think whether we allow them to become part of us or make us move to accommodate them is a large part of our personal attitude. I know that I can be a stubborn and feisty person who chafes against being told what to do, so having a pebble-type change doesn’t always work for me. While sometimes being knocked in the head by a stone is the only way to get through to me, I find myself happier and more at peace when I try to incorporate the change into my life, while allowing something of myself go as well -- like the raindrop.

I think that’s the take-away for me right now: to understand and allow change to come, but recognize that it doesn’t have to be hard, but many times it is necessary. And also to recognize that how I approach the change largely determines my happiness and the success of the change.