change is in the air

Seasons change. People change. Everything changes. I just happen to not really like change. I'm getting more and more used to it though and am beginning to accept it, and sometimes even want it. When people and relationships change, we tend to hold on to them. No one like break ups, no one likes losing a good friend. But I've been through several break ups and lost a few friends and although they were terrible at the time, looking back on them I feel a lot less pain that I thought I would. And I've come to actually appreciate the new things that those losses led me to. So should we fight change if that's not what we want? Maybe some people are just naturally inclined to run around, jazzing up their life, changing things on a whim, and others (like myself) take comfort in constancy and like it that way. Or should those of us who don't like change just suck it up and changes things anyway, counting on the fact that we'll look back on the changes and be grateful we did them?

I guess I'm thinking about all this because my best friend since 6th grade just got back from traveling in India for 9 months. And she has changed. And so have I. But the thought of not being friends any more is too sad to even think about. But then I start thinking about all the amazing experiences she had from that one dramatic change: taking a year off to travel to a foreign country. Do I need this kind of change in my life? If I don't push myself to make extreme choices will I end up dying at age 80 with little to show for myself and regrets at not leading a more adventurous life? I feel like maybe life needs to be filled with differences and changes and vast experiences in order to be full. Or does it? I think I would actually be genuinely happy to just settle down and not make a lot of changes, but just live my life and have a family and love those around me. My best friend wouldn't--especially now that she's had a taste of a different life. But maybe there's some people who like change and others who don't, and you're allowed to do whatever makes you happy even if it means avoiding that inevitable change.