I hate my new iPhone.
The keyboard is impossible (hallelujah for autocorrect), birthdays in fb are no longer a daily reminder, and I don’t have the same games as I used to have. Everyone says that I’ll get used to it when I grumble, but I still complain. I recognize that it’s a good thing so what’s really eating me? Change.
Change is a big threat to us all. Some handle it better than others, but change is something that the human race is still not that great at. Me included. So the question is, what do we do about it? The answer is ’embrace it’.
I love this time of year, but it also invokes change; new school year, change of seasons, and the end of another summer. I always look ahead at the end of summer with a bit of trepidation. I reflect back at the years gone by and compare them. I look a little older, I gain a bit of weight, my mother’s health falters a bit, and sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night with that fear that grips you like only 4am can….’what am I doing?’ and ‘where am I going?’ and ‘geez, I’m not getting any younger am I’. Those of you in your younger years will have no idea what in talking about and I’m glad; don’t sweat this until it hits you! Enjoy your freewheeling years. They are a joy. But some of you will know exactly what in talking about. So, lets laugh now, because I have learned that is all we can do.
I found my first grey hair a couple months ago. Since then, eeeek! They are coming fast and furious. The muffin top is harder to fight, and the ‘boys’ don’t check me out like they used to. Lol. Oh the humanity! But it’s not just that. Social media has taken over, 20 year olds are running corporations, and the polar ice cap is melting at an alarming rate. When did all that happen?
Here’s the point.
Change is inevitable. We can’t beat it but I think we can find a way to laugh and accept it. My best friend’s daughter had to show me how to do something very basic on the Internet the other day. The look on her face said, ‘ya, yer old’ because I has no idea. It shook me because WE used to be the ones who had the world by the balls. What happened? I don’t get the Miley Cyrus thing, but apparently that was a very ‘smart and savvy’ thing to do for her career. Really? Eek. Shame on you Billy Ray. I hope she regrets it one day, but right now she is getting more hits than Barack Obama, so…..yay? When I was a kid (I can’t believe I just said that), we had a rotary phone on the wall, there was no Internet, no faxing, and no bank cards, so when you ran out of money, that was it for the day!
Change is inevitable. In ok with that now. It took me a while, but what am I going to do? Fight it? Haha. No. The world is changing and so am I. I got ‘maam’d the other day. I am envious of 18 year olds who are just embarking on life. Grab it! Chase your dream! Make your life what you want it to be! But I wouldn’t go back to that age for anything. I’m not the tech savvy person that the kids are today, but I can learn what I need to, and smile that I have the knowledge that I have acquired over the years.
So. Me and my iPhone will continue to work on our relationship. The world will change around me and I will adapt. With a smile on my face.
XO
samferris 
This is the first post of yours I’ve read and I’m hooked! You and I are about the same age; I completely relate to this post (as I type this on my iPad, lol!) thanks for the great post and I look forward to more!
I couldn’t agree more. Change is hard. Facing and accepting change is harder still. I’m not very old, not even 30 yet (almost!) and change scares me. I’ve recently made some very big changes in my life, and every day I looked at them with a kind of joy that I haven’t let myself experience in a very long time. While I don’t have any technological struggles, I can see you eye to eye on the whole change thing. But you’re right. Change is something that we all face, and it is something we all have to get over. Things are changing constantly, and if we get too swept up in the fear, we’re never going to be able to enjoy the things that do change. Especially those things that change for the better.
Some changes are harder to face than others. I’m having a tough time dealing with my youngest moving in to res at college. Just thinking about it makes me tear up! Of course I know that they have to move out eventually but why do they have to do it when my hormones are all going menopausal too?!
Then there are the changes we want to make and yet never get around to. Changes I want to make or I’ll face a lot of regret. Must get moving!! 50 is looming, 11 months to go…..there’s no time like the present! Change can be good!
Honey I got my first grey hair when I was 23. LOL! I’ll be 35 next week and when I let my roots grow out I can see that I am probably at least 30-40% grey now. WTH happened??? Thank God for hair colour in a box. 😉 I work in a grocery store with women of all ages, but the ones I directly work with the most are biologically young enough to be my daughters. Talk about feeling old! But I try to not let it bother me. And for the most part, truth be told, I succeed. Yes 40 is looming in the not too distant future, but honestly, who cares? Life is all about change. If nothing changed, we would all get bored awfully fast. Roll with it, and embrace it. Live life with a positive attitude and nothing will get you down. 🙂
The other day I was called a senora, not senorita by someone in passing. It was my first big “oh god I can’t pretend I’m not an adult anymore” moment. Change is pretty damn scary.
I’ve learned to not sweat the small shit regarding change. I love new tech toys and I always play to find the changes. OTOH, FB changes annoy the hell out of me…. go figure.
You and I are close enough in age that the internet didn’t exist when I was at the age to do stupid shit- no pics on cell phones or online for my kids to find. LOL (grateful for that, by the way)
My life is about to take a HUGE change- my husband is going over the road due to the loss of jobs in our area. I’m absolutely dreading it. Makes FB changes look really stupid in retrospect. After 18 years of marriage I’m going to be living alone with my kids for 3 or 4 weeks on end. But I do have to admit I’m old enough to accept it and learn to live with it. Even ten years ago I wouldn’t have had enough faith in my marriage (mainly myself) to even consider this arrangement. So I can say I’ve made progress as I’ve grown older.
I relate to this post a lot, Sam! I hit the big 40 this year and had a lot of change to deal with (recently single and living back with my parents! eek!) I feel like I’m regressing back to being a teenager but with bonus of experience! I wonder a lot what my legacy will be but right now I’m happy and things are getting better. One thing I do wonder a lot, is what technological advances will be made in another 30 years to teach this current generation how lucky they are? Or are they? I mean, growing up in the 70’s/80’s we didn’t have cell phones, iPads or laptops but we made more use of our imaginations and what I’ve seen a lot of (especially online) is the rise in social anxiety disorders/issues in teenagers. Perhaps the fact that they interact less with their peers in the ‘real world’ and more in the virtual world has started to erode the skill of human communication. Or anyway, that’s my view on it. I don’t think all these gadgets are the blessing they make them out to be!
Change is hard, but usually leads to something cool (usually!). My favorite quote is “Just when the butterfly thought the world was ending, he became a butterfly.” Whenever I am freaking out about change I have to remember that to get to the new you have to let go of the old. Sometimes it works… sometimes! As for grey hairs… mine’s now about 90% grey … underneath the hair my colorist gives me. Not quite ready to embrace *that* particular change just yet.
My kids are 20 and 17, and I do sometimes envy that “the whole world is in front of me” place, however I don’t miss the lack of confidence, boundaries and strength to do what I need to for me that I did not have until recently. It’s all a trade-off I suppose. I’ll have to settle for acting like a juvenile delinquent on occasion I guess!
I’m only 19 and I always wonder where I’m going in life and what I’m doing. It’s depressing. I can’t get back into education and I’ve been job hunting for 2 years….it’s really not looking good for me yet.
Don’t you worry, doll. You don’t need to know where you are going yet. I went through THREE complete career changes by the time I was 28. Each of them were good and needed to find out who I was enjoy the journey. You’ve for loads of time to figure it out.
Thank you. That really meant a lot 🙂
Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. GRIN.
Yeah I struggle with this on a daily basis. Getting older and all the physical changes that ensue, not to mention the emotional and physical. I see change in my face, the way I think, the way I feel, the way I walk and talk and some of it is good and some not so good. The ultimate. change I fear the most is death.