Change

Change is something which creeps up on all of us. Circumstances change and people change and on the most part we don't see it coming. 

I was on facebook this morning and reading messages from my friends from home. I love hearing from them and seeing what they are up to as everyone has progressed so much and we are all so different from how we used to be. 

One of my friends is in Australia having the adventure of her life, one has a full time job and is getting a house with her boyfriend, a few others have moved to university in different parts of the country. We all have new people in our lives, and probably new views on life itself. The best thing is that everybody is so happy.

Just a year ago I was a fairly naïve, insecure, christian school girl. I was sitting my A levels and living at home. I had a fairly closed view on life, some would have called me narrow minded. Looking back, the turning point for me was leaving home. 

As much as I love my family and friends at home, I needed a new start. On a personal level, I needed a chance to find out who I really was instead of being who people expected me to be. For me, becoming a young adult is the biggest change I have ever had to deal with. And although it's hard, and this sounds corny, I think it gives the individual the opportunity to find themselves, to explore, and to have freedom.

Of course, the age that someone reaches this stage is completely different for each individual. Some may not truly find themselves until later life. I'm not pretending to have it all worked out or know all the answers, but I do know that I am the happiest I have ever been. 

Obviously I still have my insecurities, as everyone does, but I am finally happy being me. I have a much more open minded view of people and the way they live their lives, and am much slower to judge people. I have found the confidence to think for myself and have my own beliefs, despite what anybody else thinks.

Sometimes change is chosen by us, but sometimes it is out of our hands and the important thing is the way we deal with it, as that is what shapes the future. It can be positive, but it can also be a very painful process before you reach that state of happiness, it certainly wasn't easy for me. However, I believe that it is an integral part of life. As far as I'm concerned, everything happens for a reason.