Change

Recently I stumbled upon a TV show called Bar Rescue, and it's been fascinating to see an "expert" go into a failing bar and turn it around in a matter of 5 days. Each bar has a bit of a different situation, but the general themes of owners being overwhelmed, owners not being present, and owners being indifferent to what's going on in and around their bars are the ones that viewers see the most.

As I was watching today, it got me thinking about how hard a monumental change really is, and how easy they can make in seem as they pick out the best scenes from 5 intense days and pack it into an hour long show. Particularly for those owners who are adamant that there is nothing wrong with them or their business, I sit and wonder what actually happened - who was it? what did they say? was there some kind of intervention? - behind the scenes that actually made these people turn over a new leaf. Interesting enough, a quick search of Bar Rescue locations near me shows that all seven of the locations within 100 miles of me ended up closing, even after being rescued. Maybe change takes more than five days and a newly renovated bar?

It wasn't just a TV show that got me thinking about this topic. Change has been on my mind because Friday was the one year anniversary of moving into my new home. I left my "starter home" of 14 years for a new life, and even though it was the right decision, it was hard. Changing my life, even though it has made me a happier, healthier person, was hard. Terribly hard. Changing my teaching assignment at the end of this year was hard.

I guess where I'm going with this is that change always kinda sucks. No matter how you try to have a good attitude, look for the positives, and make the choice to focus on what you can control, it's a challenging situation. And we never seem to give people (and especially ourselves) the grace or the time we deserve to actually process and work through the change so that we can come out the other side a better, stronger person.

My challenge to you is for you to give yourself and others some grace when there's change going on. You never know how a little bit of time, a kind word, or just some space to process something new will help somebody learn and grow.