"Even here there is more in store."

For some areas of our life, all we want is predictability. We just want to know that the path we’re on is the right path. We want to know that we’re not wasting our time and that we’ve made the right decision. While we may embrace being impromptu in some areas of life, there are other areas where we just want to know what we’re getting to. Whether it’s a relationship, a job, or a dream –– one of the hardest things to grasp is the reality that in one way or another, everything changes. Even a flower, who has a fixed role as a “sunflower” twists into several different positions throughout the day to follow the sun. The sunflower’s natural internal rhythm is what causes it to move, constantly molding and shaping to the rhythm of the day.

This is true of houseplants, too. Around the internet, there are time lapses of houseplants shifting and moving throughout the day even though to the rushed human eye, they seem to remain still. And yet, even a plant in a stationary location with a clearly defined role, embraces the movement of each day, and ultimately the movement of life.

We never know when, where, or how things are going to change in our lives, but we can know this: we are more prepared for change than we think. This is not to say that change will be easy, but we are capable of breathing through it. No matter the change, there is an invitation to inhale and exhale and embrace the rhythm of the moment, the day, the season. Within change, there are invitations to take action where we must take action, and rest where we need to rest. There are invitations to grieve where we need to grieve, and welcome joy where we need to welcome joy. We can’t predict the future, but we can look around us and see that in the same way the plants learn to adapt to the unknown and the new, we can, too.

There is no repetition in landscape. – John O’Donahue

No two days are the same.

No two stages of life are the same.

As the world changes around us, we are allowed to change, too.

Day by day.

Season by season.

Year by year.

There’s no fixed position that we can get to that will keep us in control. There is no job title or passion that will help us avoid the unknown or unpredictability of life. No matter the city we live in, the job we take, the job we leave, no matter what we’re curious about or passionate about trying, inevitably we find that the process of knowing who we are is far deeper and more complex than figuring out what we’re going to do in life...and that’s okay. 

We were meant to turn and follow the sun. We were meant to let the rain and wind find us and shape us. We were meant to spring up from soil, slowly, but surely, even as everything on the surface is changing. If we weren’t meant to grow this way then childhood would only last a couple of years. We would become adults just a few years after being born. But the older we get, the more we discover: it takes decades to grow. And perhaps the reason why it takes so long is so we can actually have time to adjust to change.

So take heart,

here in the change.

The unpredictability of life is real.

And so is grace.

More tomorrow…
Sincerely,
Morgan Harper Nichols
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols

Source: *Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World by John O'Donohue and John Quinn