Back to "normal"

Today's the day my life gets back to normal after the wedding. Yesterday was sleep, out to dinner with my Boston cousins, and some post-wedding let down blues. Today I go back to work at the office, back to my regular eating routine, and back to working out at the gym.

But for the bride and groom, and for the homes they left to start their own, there is a new "normal" beginning. For the parents and siblings, their new normal means one less bird in the nest. Might be that the vacated bedroom gets turned into an office or a sewing room. Or if it was the bigger bedroom, maybe the remaining sibling moves into it.

The bride and groom, who at this moment are about to board a plane bound for their Hawaiian honeymoon, have a big time new normal waiting for them in their new home when they get back. I remember what it was like for me to adjust to my new life as a wife. Fun...and a little scary too. It's like installing a new operating system on your computer...same computer, but you're not sure where everything is and how it's supposed to work.

Change is a part of life. What's funny is that the biggies - like marriage - can sometimes be easier to deal with than the seemingly smaller changes. Because you know they are going to be big, you prepare to adjust. The little changes are often unexpected and throw you for a loop.

The key to handling change is to remember that life is full of it. At times you will wish for change, and at times you will wish for everything to stay the same. Change can come from inside you (a decision you make to change something you can control) or from outside you (circumstances beyond your control). Either way you need to be ready and willing to adapt to change.

If you aren't, you will find yourself sad, frustrated or angry a lot of the time. And you don't want that to be what's "normal" for you.