Change is hard. It can be painful. Change challenges us. 

Change is also inevitable, but we have a choice as to how we are going to experience it. 

As many of you know, my son is in love with his BMX bike. We are at the skate park for hours…a lot of hours.

We were introduced to BMX a few months ago and he instantly fell in love with the track. You know when you find something you love, you are really good at, and feel like you have found your “home”?

That’s Jacob on the track. As a mom, it’s a cool thing to watch. 

We are there probably two to three nights a week. He would be there more if we could. It is his happy place. 

Then, one day, change came.

There was a sign by the entrance  that said that the track was closing the following week so that they could rebuild a new and improved course. This meant that the old track, the track he had grown to love and know like the back of his hand would be gone. He knew every corner, every dip, and every roll. After so much time there, he knew exactly what to expect, and so did I. 

I was so concerned.

How long was it going to be closed? What if the new track is too hard for him to ride? What if he doesn’t do as well on the dirt as he did on the clay? Will he get hurt? Will he become discouraged? 

Every thought was passing through my mind.

Funny thing is though, Jacob had only one question for me. “When can I ride again?” That was it. 

When we finally got word that the track was back open, we headed straight to the park. We pulled into the parking lot, and he jumped out of the car and said, “Mommy, hurry up…we gotta try out the new track!”

He quickly got his bike down, helmet and gloves on, and jumped on his bike…riding to the starting deck as fast as he could.  He lined up, waited for the “Riders Ready” prompt, and launched out of the starting gate without a single hesitation. 

As I watched him ride the new track, I could feel his joy. He took every obstacle on with excitement, fear, laughter, frustration, and most of all, courage. 

As he finished the first run, he slid over to me on the sidelines and said,

“Did you see me? That was so cool!”

In an instant, I realized that all my hesitation, worry, frustration, and anxiety about the “change” was completely unnecessary. I stressed and caused my blood pressure to rise for no reason. 

There is change happening all around us. There is the change we as a nation are experiencing, the change that happens in our bodies over time, change in our relationships, and the change that happens in our daily lives; change is inevitable. How we experience it however, is our choice. 

Jacob reminded me to look at change around me in a different light. He reminded me to be patient because it just might turn out better than we think. He helped me see the joy and excitement in change. He modeled how to ride through it experiencing all the emotions and still coming out in the end saying, “Did you see me? That was so cool!”

Our children are #wiseguys, reminding us all of the love we are meant to have, experience, and be on this planet. 

I’m following their lead. It’s so much more fun, and a natural blood pressure medication 😉