Shifting

“Shifting”

Hi, it's Joyce from the YMCA.
Recently I read a post on Facebook called “Shifting.”  This reminded me of how I am shifting as I get older.  I’m not the same girl I was at Southmoreland High School.  I would giggle and have fun with my friends in the cafeteria and on the band bus. Or complain about teachers and homework in study hall.

I’m also not the same young woman I was when I married my High School Sweetheart.  We began our life together thinking that we knew everything about everything only learning later that we knew nothing about most things.  Many years and tears have passed and we continue to learn about life and each other.

My values have shifted and changed just as my body has.  I used to get upset and argue about the headlines in the newspaper or “Breaking News” on TV.  Thinking how life was so unfair.  Now I remain quiet, knowing that I can’t control how people act or what people say.  But I can control how I act and what I say.

I used to eat and drink what ever I liked and not worry about the consequences.  Now I consider how long I will have to workout in the Fitness Center to fit comfortably in my clothes. I don’t do Step Aerobics anymore or Kickboxing because I have developed arthritis and have torn meniscus in my knees.  So again I have to shift my workout to what is comfortable to my body.  I am enjoying Yoga, Pilates, and Barre classes at the YMCA.  But even more importantly, how will this affect my health as I get older?  I have a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

No, I’m not the Joyce I used to be.  I hope I am a better Joyce, a new and improved version of the Joyce I was.

When I look back at who I once was, I cringe and think that the new Joyce would have handled that problem so much better.  I would be kinder, wiser, gentler, and a better listener that I was then. 

We can’t remain as we were. If there is one certainty in life it is that we must change.  We must shift.  And in the shifting become who we were meant to be.

Shifting

As you are shifting, you will begin to realize

That you are not the same person you used to be. 

The things that you used to tolerate have become intolerable.

When you once remained quiet, you are now speaking your truth.

When you once battled and argued, you now choose to remain silent.

You are beginning to understand the value of your voice

and there are some situations that no longer deserve your time, energy, and focus.