Change Happens

Growth is Optional

“Words are where most change begins.” ― Brandon Sanderson

Change happens. Where do we go from here?

I am not a fan of change. It is usually uncomfortable and by its nature almost always unfamiliar. However, I do understand that in many cases, it is necessary. Measured and deliberate change is good. Missions change. Passions and people change as well. As long as we remember these words.

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” -John C. Maxwell

Change provides us a chance to grow as a person. If we are willing to see the opportunity through the chaos.

Change can feel good or it can be maddening. It can be exciting and at the same time scary. You can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. You can be excited for the future and at the same time be scared to death of it. Change can present us with every emotion under the sun all at the same time. It tests our mind, heart, and soul.

It is important that in those moments that we lean on the rock of salvation. When we feel lost, God will guide us. When we feel scared, He will calm us. When we need Him, He is always there. He will provide a new mission and a path to its success. We must simply seek His face and listen to His voice.

Still.

When you give everything you have to something and it comes to its inevitable end, it is always tough. So many emotions surround the experience that it is hard to get a handle on all of them. The mission is complete so it feels celebratory. Yet your life is about to change drastically so it is scary. You cherish the friends that you made along the way and also understand that most of them will fade into the ether of life.

You felt so full and that is why you now feel so empty. After all the goodbyes have been said it can feel like someone close to you has died. However, this should be treated more like a graduation than a funeral. The next chapter rather then the end of the book.

What do you do when something you’ve given so much of yourself to is over?

When it is warranted, we take a moment to celebrate the accomplishments that we achieved while working the mission. In Freedom Corners case there is plenty to celebrate. After the celebration it can get awfully quiet. Thoughts move in and doubts begin to float around in our heads. Anxiety begins to tug at our arm and we begin to worry if what we did was enough.

We must be realistic. Friends fade and nothing lasts forever.

We take the lessons we learn along the way and use them to build the person we want to be. God teaches us what we need to know. If you aren’t listening then you’ll miss the lesson.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” ― Winston S. Churchill

A lesson that Freedom Corner taught us was that no one person is more important than the mission. Much like labor and the rewards of that labor are a gift from God. The mission is a gift. As a group, if we remain dedicated to the mission, the way a soldier would be, we become a stronger force.

Like in the military, we remove emotions from the equations. Facts do not care about your feelings and neither does the mission. Feelings and emotions cloud our vision and make us less effective and easier to break apart. Wedges are driven into our emotions, not in facts. Division and hate grow easily in soft emotional soil. Facts are built on rock and so the wedges cannot penetrate.

I am grateful for Freedom Corner and the people involved. They were a great example of a group dedicated to the mission in front of them.

Now in this silence it is time to return to the “re’s”.

Reflect on the previous mission. What went right? What went wrong? Why?

Regroup for the next mission. Activism takes a toll on our minds, bodies, and souls. Take some time to heal and strengthen yourself again.

Reshape your vision for the future. This mission may be over but others exist and we must figure out where we best fit based on how we can help the mission. Not how the mission can help us.

Reengage into something that ignites your passion.

Return to the fight again as a healthy, well adjusted, activist for freedom.

Reflect, regroup, reshape, reengage, and return to the fight. Whatever that looks like.

Godspeed Patriots