When I worked at Symantec, one of my coworkers kept a bell at his desk. Anytime another reorganization was announced, he’d ring it for everyone to hear.
It became an inside joke because reorganizations happened constantly. Departments changed leaders, teams were reshuffled, and new managers seemed to arrive almost as quickly as the old ones disappeared. Some of the new leaders were outstanding. Others… well, let’s just say they inspired far less confidence.
I quickly learned that I didn’t like change.
Then the company started eliminating many of the perks we’d come to enjoy. The free soda disappeared. The arcade was removed. Every cost-cutting measure seemed to chip away at morale, and the grumbling around the office grew louder with each announcement.
I disliked change even more.
Around that time, someone handed me a copy of Who Moved My Cheese? by Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. It’s a short book with a simple message: change is inevitable, and resisting it usually hurts more than adapting to it. Instead of fearing change, we should learn to anticipate it, accept it, and look for the opportunities it creates.
At the time, I thought it was a lesson about surviving corporate life. I had no idea it was preparing me for something much bigger.
Over the past few months, my family has experienced more change than I ever imagined possible. Some days have been incredibly difficult, but they’ve also revealed strengths we didn’t know we had. Together we’ve solved problems, supported one another, and continued moving forward one day at a time.
I believe Mel would be proud of what we’ve accomplished, not because everything has been easy, but because we’ve refused to stop growing.
The dictionary defines change as making something different. That’s certainly true, but I’ve come to think of it differently. Change doesn’t just alter our circumstances; it reveals who we choose to become in response to them.
Melanee changed countless lives, especially mine. I was proud to be her husband. Today, I still carry that pride, but I also feel called to become something more, to grow into the man I was always capable of becoming. Not because she is gone, but because of everything she taught me while she was here.
I still don’t like change. But I’m learning that acceptance doesn’t mean liking what has changed. It means accepting reality for what it is, letting go of the fight against what I cannot control, and choosing to move forward anyway.
…I still complain about it once in a while, though.