[X] My Assistant

The next twelve or so months of my life are going to be packed with change. I'll be moving two times, changing jobs, changing the surroundings I'm used to, changing banks and a bunch of other stuff I probably can't even think about right now. Considering I've been through 4 years of the military and going all around the world and dealing with just about anything one can imagine, I'd say I'm pretty used to change and adjusting to it. Still though, it can almost seem overwhelming and a bit scary.

So that got me to thinking, how do you deal with major life changes? For that matter, are you even willing to make major changes in your life or do you prefer to just stay in your little comfort zone? If I told you that your life would be dramatically different 6 months from now, would you be full of fear, happiness, anxiety or something else entirely?

For that matter, are you even willing to make major changes in your life or do you prefer to just stay in your little comfort zone?

I don't have the comfort zone... or at least I'm not there yet. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If I told you that your life would be dramatically different 6 months from now, would you be full of fear, happiness, anxiety or something else entirely?

Maybe I'll feel anxious since I don't know what my life will become but more of it I won't feel anything because from my early 10's, changing is already a part of my life.

So that got me to thinking, how do you deal with major life changes? For that matter, are you even willing to make major changes in your life or do you prefer to just stay in your little comfort zone? If I told you that your life would be dramatically different 6 months from now, would you be full of fear, happiness, anxiety or something else entirely?

To be technical, my "comfort zone" isn't an actual zone at all. Everyone usually has something that helps them take their mind off the real world - video games, music, liquor. Suffice it to say, mine rests solely in my mind. I kid you not, and I'll explain later. Most people would think of something like changing schools and moving is a major change... but to be really frank, it's not the way I see it. When you change schools or move to a new neighborhood, you may feel like the odd man out but the odds are in your favor that someone out there shares a common interest with you, no matter how obscure or seemingly uninteresting. From that, word gets around, perspectives grow and new friends emerge in the absence of old ones. The way I see it, there are only two major changes that humans must really concern themselves with - life and death. What happens if a friend of mine dies? What will happen if I die? Whom will I have to pass my "legacy" onto?

When my first (and only) girlfriend died, something snapped in me. I didn't want to talk to others as much as they did to me... I wanted to be alone, and I made it so - I skipped school, avoided my parents and family, eventually until there was nothing left but me. And me. You see, when that happened, I started to hear voices. Voices guiding me through what happened... telling me why it happened and why it had to happen... voices asking me if it could have been prevented... the voices never faded. Eventually every major decision I had to make became a conference of emotions - I could never make a choice without thinking of the possible repercussions. As such, a lot of the choices laid out in front of me never got around to being resolved at all.

To answer your last question, I wouldn't feel anything immediately because in that instant I wouldn't know how to deal with it. Infinite scenarios, infinite possibilities, more than my mind could possibly handle all at once... on that note, I would most likely just go through life in my usual lackadaisical way.

Sorry if that's a longer answer than you were expecting, but I stand by it.

It seems I can always depend on you to be the first to give me a legit answer. While I don't really see it in terms of the extremes that you do with only life and death, I can certainly understand the sentiment. The way I define change is something that will dramatically alter the landscape of my life for years to come or even for the rest of my life. The type of change where you just just hit rewind and go back to the way it was. Right now that's the point I'm at in my life. I know where I want to be, but things can happen that will prevent that but in no way can I look back and go back to the status quo. I'm staring at a few doors that I can walk through but the one behind me is locked shut.

If the door locks behind you, the door locks. I was moved across the country when I was 12, a turbulent and horrid period of life as it was, but made even more so by sudden and dramatic environment change. It sucked, and I went through the stereotyped teenage angst phase and came out a better person. Of course, I tried to return to my native Southern California, only to find that I have changed drastically while my old friends have remained the same, and thus I have lost pretty much all reason to be connected to my former life. After I began college, I started a new life and largely abandoned any connection to people in my childhood. Now I feel as if I'm losing all connections I made while living on the east coast, and while this is somewhat true, I would've lost that life regardless due to the change that college presents. Now I am about to embark on a new venture by studying abroad in Germany, and this will probably shut some doors even though I will be returning in half a year to a year.
If you believe in the modernist ideal, then it is expected that life will constantly change and that one should continually search for this change instead of trying to hold on to what is or was. It will probably hit you harder if you think about how different things are now, but at the same time it is inevitable and you just need to deal with it and continue forging ahead. Fear not what will be, because something will be regardless of what you do to avoid or embrace it. I would recommend alcohol or marijuana as a bandage, but only after you have come to terms with how things are different by yourself.

If Change comes then let it come. Just make sure Change wears a condom or you might get pregnant, or worse, VD!!!

I haven't experienced much change in life since I got Internet access. Sure, I changed schools, cities, people that were around me, but those never affected me much. I'm not a people person, and prefer to have fun with history, physics, in general, facts of life.

I'd say most of the changes you write about will be rather superficial (banks, jobs) - well, they would be to me. When it comes to people you are with, if you feel more at home with them than in your previous life, I'd say it's a good thing, and nothing to be worried about.

HMMMMM, I think I'd be happy. I live in a small town, and it is at least twenty minutes by car to the next town, so we're pretty isolated. I have grown up with the people around me and at some point I stopped talking to them, seven years later here I am posting on a forum for a porn site. ...I think any kind of change from this monotony would be a very welcome change of pace. Although, I have no bank account and other things that tie me to my current place of residence so I wouldn't suffer as much as others.

If I told you that your life would be dramatically different 6 months from now, would you be full of fear, happiness, anxiety or something else entirely?

I do not mind change, I have been through enough where it doesn't bother me. And if I did believe you, I would like to think that my list of skills will bring me through or make me prosper. So, I would say I will adapt.

The only things I change sometimes are GPs into credits. And I'm not happy doing that.

It's a bold step into nothingness (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
You leave behind a lot you know and are familiar with yeah, but the end result is so worth it ^^

Sure you might have had a lot of stuff change, and that makes it easier... But there's always that rush, that thrill... "will everything be ok" sort of feeling. It'll test your resolve at times. "Is this the right thing?" or "What if something changes again?".

So never take something for granted regarding life changing stuff like that. Always keep looking forward, plan ahead, prepare, but never assume that's all of it, because there's always variable change... Small stuff that sneaks in, or large stuff, but there's never a "this is all you get" package.

But hey, we're humans, we're resilient, adaptive and ingenuous. Shit happens? we adapt :3

I don't have any major life changes. Good luck for those who have like cptkleenex here. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

With an optimistic view, I find that the beauty of change can be quite exciting.

With an optimistic view, I find that the beauty of change can be quite exciting.

+1

There is no Change! There is only the internet. No matter where you go or what you do, the internet can be your rock of Gibraltar, an unending beacon of perversity in a world of doubt and despair.

There is no Change! There is only the internet. No matter where you go or what you do, the internet can be your rock of Gibraltar, an unending beacon of perversity in a world of doubt and despair.

...you had to go and ruin a serious topic with your pathetic trolling attempts, didn't you?

Equation of life is fixed for every person. A change for a person only will give a new value to a variable, but the equation remains the same. The new value depends wholly on the equation of said person and even more on the signifigance of factor in the equation.

Whee. Serious topics that provoke thought are fun. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I find through reflection and introspection that I deal with change a bit differently every time.

When my father died, back when I was young and yes I've made peace with it now, I dealt with that major change by becoming a font of both sadness and anger, and would explode with either at any moment. The results of this have left some of my friends and enemies with scars they still carry, both on their bodies and on their minds.

When High School was about to end, and I was afraid of the life of important people, I panicked, and not only dropped out, but cut contact with everyone, moved out of my house, and became so reclusive that many of my friends thought I'd gone and gotten myself shot.

When I went and fixed my life by finishing High School and entering College, I felt so out of place in such an unfamiliar setting that I, instead of attempting to adapt, lost myself in video games, refusing to go out and party with my roommate or my friends, both old and new, instead just staying on the computer. It got bad enough that I didn't go to classes, and eventually had to withdraw for the sake of my transcripts.

Of course I've improved since then as well, though my wallet still suffers from the damage I've dealt to it, I think my mind and my habits have benefited significantly from each experience (I even graduate soon), and I find the way I've changed with each major change an interesting study.

Right now, change is being good to me right now. After about two years of being without a stable home, I'm finally moving into a dorm room and starting college. Sure, I'm isolated from everyone that matters to me, but I can stay in touch with them one way or another. And I get a bed again! No more itchy carpet!

I find that the change that's hardest to deal with is when people change. You reunite with someone you haven't seen in a few years and you find that they aren't who you remember. And sometimes, who they've become isn't someone you still want to be around.

Change is a weird subject when it comes to me. I guess I almost had a complete overhaul of friends over the school year. Some people I just couldn't deal with anymore, so I stopped talking/chilling with them. There's this one girl I seriously need to cut out of my life because she's so annoying and doesn't really act like a best friends, which she considers me. She thinks the world revolves around her.

I guess you can also say that when I moved, it was kind of crap, I didn't move far, but it changed my whole routine and moved me farther away from my friends.
Over the past 12 months, I've changed myself. I actually started caring about people rather than thinking I don't really need them in my life. I started thinking a lot more, being a little more philosophical. That change was only because of 2 people, who are now my best friends. They helped me change, just as I've helped them by just being a friend.

Oh, and when my grandmother died, a little over 2 weeks ago, it was like time stopped, not just for me, but for my whole family. I don't really wanna go into it because I think you could understand what people go through when you lose a loved one.

This post has been edited by major_blood: Aug 26 2009, 06:10