Change

Part of the reason behind me writing this blog, is to see the change that is brought about as a result of this new adventure. I've never really liked change too much - I like being comfortable in my surroundings, my house, my job, in my daily routine. I like to know that with all the uncertainty in this world, I can rely on the fact that my house is on Knowles street, I will have weetbix for breakfast, and that the supermarket at Northlands mall be open if I decide to go shopping for Whittakers chocolate late at night. The reliability of these things gives me comfort. So it seems that as a result of my large dislike for change, I have never really had much of an adventure to write about, one that would bring about such a difference in me and my outlook on life.

Yet here I am, selling up house in NZ, and swapping jandals for bare feet, shorts for saris, my car for a bicycle, weetbix for kitchari, and even morning wake-up from 7am to 5am.

Don't get me wrong, I've swapped these things before plenty of times - India is the one place I've traveled to numerous times. But this time is different, this time I am opening up my heart and life to change, accepting things that come my way, however different or annoying they may be. That includes mosquitoes and the discomfort they cause, the frogs that come out at night and sometimes get underfoot, accepting the extreme heat (not to mention extreme SWEAT!!), accepting the fact that chocolate from India is just not the same as Whittakers Dark Chocolate or Cadburys Black Forest chocolate. If I try to resist this change, I will only get frustrated and agitated and this whole experience would be fruitless.

I'm making it sound as if this change is so difficult. Its not. In fact inevitably change is constant. Like the weather - this week it is sweltering hot, last month there was a storm practically every night... and next month it is monsoon. Ishaan changes every day, some changes more noticeable than others! And here in Mayapur there's the good kind of change - the early morning wake-ups, the range of beautiful fruits that are now accessible to me, the positive surroundings for Ishaan, all the wonderful new friends I'm making, the fact that I am learning to cook dishes now that I never even knew existed. These positive differences certainly outweigh the negative ones, and in fact I am rather taking a small liking to change.

So bring it on, change. Show me beauty I have never even seen or heard of before. Introduce me to people with personalities that I have never encountered before. Open up new experiences for me that I have never experienced. Challenge me with decisions that I have never had to make. Show me love that I have never felt before. Test my faith and make me into a better person, a better servant of Sri Radha.

Only time will tell if I have accepted or resisted.