Change is always necessary

Have you ever noticed how a new haircut or color makes you feel?  I had mine done last week, and it felt great.  I have always loved change and hair is no exception.  I was excited to have my hairdresser do something different, and she did.  I rarely say exactly what I want, but she always has a way of making me love it. While I was there another woman who had extremely long thin looking hair wouldn't allow her hairdresser to be cut her hair more than a few inches because she felt she wasn't old enough yet for a short style, another didn't dare to make an adjustment to her hair color, for fear it would be too dramatic.

Does our hair matter that much to us? After watching family and friends go through cancer treatment I noticed that at first hair was a big issue.  Would it fall out, would it come back the same, what would they look like if it was all gone?  All extremely valid questions, that I would be asking myself.  One of my dear friends spoke in church and mentioned how at the first of her cancer treatments that losing hair was something she worried about.  After going through such a miraculous life changing experience she had realized it wasn't as big a deal as she thought.  I remember thinking she looked great with her long hair and still was beautiful when a lot of it had fallen out.  I don't think she realized it was her struggle and endurance that made her so beautiful.   She is an example to all who know her, and just as beautiful as the day she went in for treatments.  It was the change in herself that has made her who she has become.  Was the change easy? No, probably the hardest change she has ever gone through, and she proved that it is the desire to never give up that strengthened her in many ways.

Life has it's way of throwing curve balls for us to hit, and it's how we handle those pitches that will tell us how we played the game.  It's not about the strikes or hits, but how often we keep trying when defeat was in our hearts.  Life can be compared to the the lovely game of baseball.  There are always two teams, one who wins and one who doesn't, someone who can hit the ball and one who strikes out,  an awesome fielder and one who struggles.  Life changes with every choice we make, every time we go up to bat we will either get on base or walk back to the dugout.  Sometimes we can control what the outcome is and some end results are out of our hands.  You can practice with all your might at baseball, does that mean you will be the best?  That doesn't mean you can't just enjoy playing it.  When life changes, when the curve ball comes your way are you going to swing? Are you going to get back up to bat after one strikeout? 

We can be upset when life isn't going the way we want, we can give up, we can walk away from people we care about, OR we can choose to try, try harder, or maybe just to never give up... The best part about life is the choice.  Free agency is a God given right that everyone is born with, yet not all of us live in an area where we can express our free agency.  What I am saying, you can choose to still love life, and the opportunity to get up everyday and continue to try.  It doesn't mean it will be easy, and maybe it won't feel like it's worth it, but we can all choose to find Joy in a new day.  Each day is a wonderful gift, and none of us really know when  our last will be, but if you take time to find one thing in life that makes the change joyful, you can find happiness where ever you are.