Change and Loss

Sometimes, it's the little changes that end up costing us the most. And sometimes, every change feels like a loss. Change brings a loss of certainty, just as it gives feelings of uneasiness and even genuine fear.

I lost a coworker yesterday. Not really lost, but lost from one part of my life. I will get used to the new face sitting in the same office as me from eight to five every day. But things will never be the same. The people around us give us meaning. Would I live the life I live now, if I were the only human in existence? Of course not! No one would. So how can we not take seriously the constant change of people who come into our lives, even if into just one segment of our lives, only to be gone the next? The change I experienced this week was not the true loss of a friend. It was the loss of a friend from one segment of my life. It is strange how even that can feel so painful, so real.

Unfortunately, some changes are more serious than this. Some are permanent, never to be undone. So often I have failed to hold onto those I love. So rarely do I consider that every moment spent with someone is an individually numbered, finite moment. Why waste time pondering the faults of those we love, when we have limited moments to experience the wonders of their company? None of us have enough time to wait for the right moment to show someone how much they mean to us. The moment may never come. Even if it does, all of those moments in between are too valuable to discard.

Change is a peculiar thing. It makes us realize that every second we count as just more of the same, is actually the loss of a unique moment which will never happen again.