The Game of Growing Up

When a child gets bored of a toy, they are on the lookout for a new one. 

When a child goes to school, they find new friends.

When a child grows, they play new games. 

Children don't question these things. They simply go with the flow of change,

pursuing new hobbies and interests; developing thoughts and feelings. 

Once a child begins to question change, the child puts away the toys,

doesn't look for new friends, and begins to play a new game, the life game. 

Only then the child is no longer childish, the child is simply following the 

rules of the life game; growing up. 

I started to play when I was eight years old.

Is change really good? Like a game of chess, my first move was asking this question. 

As a child, I was taught that change was normal. Everything was supposed

to change, from the way I look, to the way I think, to the way I speak.

But after my parent's divorce, I didn't believe this to be true. 

After my first failure, I didn't believe this to be true. 

After my first anxiety attack, I didn't believe this to be true. 

My second move was accepting that change sometimes came with pain. 

I cried, I lied, and I died (metaphorically speaking of course).

But after all of this, I realized that change really is good. I may have lost some

good things, but I believe God is directing me towards something better. 

My third move is....

I don't know. But the only way to find out is to keep growing, to keep changing, 

and to keep playing the game.