For those of you contemplating change, do not let the Self part of you stop you from exploring the new. I once met a man who had lived his whole life in one town and had never traveled outside of it. Then he moved, and his Self set up such a trial for him that, one year later, he was back where he had lived before – in his home town. He scuttled out, and he scuttled back. As I have stated before, I dread to think where I would have been had I not moved in 1992 and gone to New Zealand. I could so easily have said that I did not want to do it, but the threat of my husband and his doing what he did at the time drove me away. Thank God it did. I have said in a previous blog how much I thanked him for doing that; he changed my life and my fortunes so to speak.

Change is not easy. In my case, change has brought me a complete new beginning each time, first when I left England for Australia and had to leave everything behind because I could not afford to bring it with me. Then again, when I was in the recession and had to leave behind almost all I had in order to move into a small apartment after living in a huge 3-bedroom house. Then again, when I separated from my first husband and I lost everything. Then the move to New Zealand, and again when I came to the USA and had to leave my things behind. Thankfully, my daughter was the recipient of most of my belongings at that time, but it meant I had to let go. If I had any lessons to learn about walking away and letting go, I hope I have learned them now. The year 2011 is not going to halt the change of progress. However, how we deal with it will determine our success or failure in our life.

Margaret McElroy