change, and other crap people don't like to deal with

I was making a dessert tonight, and it got me started on thinking about change.

Those two things seem completely unrelated, right? Some sugary goodness, and then one of those not-so-sugary life 'you-have-to-deal-with-it' things.

I'll explain that later.

It seems like most people don't really care for change. I know there are a few randos out there who not only deal with it well but actually embrace it. and even gag yearn for it.

[Maybe 'yearn' is a bit too strong of a word, but..you get the picture.]

That's not to say that everyone actively hates change.

Just that, when it does come along, it's an annoying little bugger that you'd like to be able to kill with one swipe from a fly swatter.

Ahh, sweet, sweet wishes.

The phrase 'if only' comes to mind.

Because why change, particularly when you're already happy with your life in general? Because change can be scary, and I don't know about you, but when I think of change, my mind immediately goes to all the negative things that can happen.

Kind of like the old adage 'Don't fix what isn't broken'? But, that's just too logical!

[Although, it would appear that some men people do have trouble understanding that line of reasoning.]

Just kidding.

You keep doing you.

But seriously, what if you stop looking at it as a "I need to fix this, apparently it is broken somehow?" and more like...an upgrade?

You don't have something broken, you have something that you love, and when an update comes along that could-would-probably make that thing even better..why not take it?

I mean, everything time you upgrade your phone software...it could be a faulty upgrade or a virus or something, but you don't focus on that, do you? You just focus on all the awesomeness [or frustrations for you iPhoners] that the upgrade will bring.

So what would it be like to look at changes in your life the way you look at upgrades to your phone?

I have just realized how drawn-out, possibly unintelligible but most definitely convoluted, this analogy has  been. I do apologize.

I love making up the most ridiculous [and hopefully unique] analogies. My best friend says they are horrible. But he says it with a tiny smile on his face so I know he secretly loves them, and thus I will never stop.

Anyways.

I have dealt with a lot of change in my life. Normal, most-people-encounter-this-at-some-point change, and then some not-so-normal "Holy shit this sucks" change.

[I'm seriously trying to fit in vast amounts of punctuation in this post, can you tell?]

But as a grown ass woman child, I was not resistant to change.

I loathed it.

Abhorred it.

Detested it.

It was practically traumatic for me.

[And I was not a dramatic child. Apparently, I just had a few weird...quirks. Sure, quirks, let's go with that.]

One time, when I was somewhere between the ages of 5 and 10 [don't judge, my memory from back then kiiiinda sucks], my parents decided to get a new couch.

I cried.

I threw a temper tantrum.

I had a legitimate meltdown.

Over a sofa.

I mean, all my parents were doing was updating. Upgrading.

I've gotten better at handling change, and I think sometimes I need it so badly that I actually force it to happen instead of letting it happen organically naturally. [One of my favorite tv shows, Treehouse Masters, has been using the word 'organically' waaaaay too much lately.]

I think forcing change is not unnatural, though. Right? All it is, is you making your own choice to change something, and then following through on it.

Seeing as the last 8 years have consisted of me attending FOUR universities [and one community college for a summer class], not to mention living in FIVE different cities, and moving houses/apartments/dwellings/whatever a grand whopping total of ELEVEN TIMES. Good god, I'm so sick of moving.

Every time I've decided to make that change, it's brought both new good things and new bad things into my life, as well as removing some old good things and some old bad things.

I think on a whole, though, so far the good things have [at least slightly] outweighed the bad things.

So don't be afraid of change. Look at is a chance to, such as in my case, get a fresh start [or eleven].

Maybe you'll learn something new. 

[I wouldn't be surprised.]

Maybe you'll meet someone wonderful, or accomplish something you didn't think you could-or didn't even think about, period.

Maybe, god forbid, you just might actually like it.

And if you don't and it's horrible? Well, lucky you.

Because in all likelihood, you now get to force some change, and change the change that you ended up not liking. [Did that make sense?]

So next time change comes into your life that you're not so sure about, take a minute to really examine it, and try to find something about it that is going to affect your life in a positive way.

If you can't find anything, and it's a change that you cannot sidestep, well, that sucks.

My advice is to hold on tight, wait til the roller coaster ride is over, maybe go puke in a metal trash can, then come back and make it your bitch.

Or something like that.

That's what I try to and sometimes fail to but whatever I tried do.

[About the dessert thing...it was stupid. I was making one of my favorite desserts and decided to finally see how it turned out if I swapped the sugar for a substitue sweetener (I used stevia or truvia or actually the kroger/dillons brand but that doesn't matter). I was always resistant to trying this because it's a dessert, sugar is sacred, I should be able to eat a normal dessert like a normal person and not have to rely on artificial sweeteners everytime I want some damn sweet shit in my mouth. But what's the lesser of two evils? The still-mysterious artificial sweeteners that are thought to maybe cause cancer or extra belly fat, and you might grow a beak or donkey tail or something as well; or copious amounts of real sugar, that is known to cause diabetes? Meh, you can't win them all.]

[A smart person would tell me to just stop eating so much sweetened food in general, barring fruit. You know where I'd tell that smart person to shove it?

Nowhere.
My mouth would be too full with decadent, sugary perfection!]