Change is a part of life, many do not like change or will accept change because it takes them out of their comfort zone. Even though many do not like change, everyone goes through some form of it.
There are a few types of changes that I want to write about.
- Expected Change– Expected Change is things such as learning how to talk, walk and growing as a child
- Planned Change-Planned change could be learning to drive, going to school, marriage, starting a family, buying a new car, rearranging your furniture in your home and so on.
- Unexpected Change-This is the most difficult to deal with for it comes to us unaware and many times we are unprepared for it.
When I think of unexpected change, I think of the time when I was diagnosed with end-stage-renal disease and told I needed to go on dialysis. This definitely fit in the 3rd category and was the most difficult change I had to deal with up to that point. Think about it, within a few short days I had to learn how to eat better, keep a schedule so that I would not miss dialysis, medication would change from time to time and so on. This third category is hard, for it brings us to the state of unconformability and who likes to be uncomfortable. It is natural for us to want to stay in our comfort zone and not take one step out of it. But I have a question: what if we would step out of it? Would it benefit us, and would we grow as an individual?
Yes, but we have to be willing to accept the change and learn from it. When it came to dialysis, I learned more things about myself and who I was, then I did about the medical. While I understood about keeping my blood pressure down, eating right, the importance of making all my treatments and completing them, the basics of my medical condition.
More Importantly, I learned that I could adapt to the change and be a better Anthony than I had been in the past. Change is hard. It is hard to change your diet and not eat the tomatoes, potatoes, cheese, and other non-friendly renal food. It is hard to keep up your treatments and be a good dialysis patient. But what about, instead of being a good dialysis, what about being a better you. By being a better you, you will become a better dialysis patient, you will become a better father or mother, a better friend, a better worker, and more value to your community.
Life sometimes allows unexpected change to come to us to make us better.
Change allows us not to get stagnant in life.
AER
I can say for certain that I am a better person because of dialysis. I am a stronger person because of dialysis. I am a better father, friend and worker because of dialysis. In short, I am better all the way around because of that unexpected change.
What about you, will you allow change to make you a better person? It’s up to you, but I believe it can.
Until next time, be encouraged, for you are one step closer to the next peak.
Kidney Trails 