The View from My Wheelchair

(this article was held over from the September Magazine due to lack of space)

 

This month I thought I would consider what the word change means to us in the light of the change of vicar taking place in September 2008.

 

Many of us will admit to a dislike of change in our lives but over the years I have had to learn to cope with many different kinds of change. Looking back, I can pinpoint many small but personally significant changes in my life that have had both good and unhappy consequences.

 

During my infant and junior school years we had changes of classroom and form teacher every September as we moved up a year. Some teachers we liked, and others we were glad to see the back of come the school year end. Coping with the staff was for me easier than trying to get on with the pupils, as these rarely changed and I was badly bullied for many years by the same pupils in my class. In all my years I can only remember a mere handful of teachers who cared enough to try to stop the bullying but with no success.

 

Then came what for me was a huge change, the move to a different schooling environment where no one was bullied, every one had talents besides their academic prowess and where each pupil was valued. The academic hours were hard working but extremely thought provoking and behaviour in the classroom was polite and well mannered. Outside the academic day the staff were approachable and friendly unless you overstepped the mark.

 

What that change did for me was change my attitude to studying. It changed how people perceived me and my talents and I was seen as a valued person.

 

Over the ensuing years this meant that I enjoyed further studies as an adult, and it gave me the self confidence to teach tourism in Central London several years ago, and made me a stronger person.

 

Other changes of note include finding I was pregnant and becoming a mother, and the serious impact of my illness. There have also been relationships where one has to think of others’ feelings and share things which can often be a huge step for some people but not so much for me, as I have learnt to live in shared hostels and houses in numerous parts of England and can get on with most people.

 

For many reading this the biggest change in  life was possibly when they got married or chose to move in with a partner. There are changing career paths, new workplaces to get used to and new people to work alongside. There is the new arrival in a family which changes things, or the death of a partner and the realisation that one is now left alone which means a far greater change to life.

 

Another aspect of change in one's life is the reaction of friends to the events that life throws at one. The emotions you experience with change may be shared with genuine friends no matter whether life is good or bad, but  you may find the friend cannot cope with the situation and walks out of your life unlikely to return. This makes me remember the old saying "in the tough times you find out who your real friends are". For me the hand of friendship and deep caring goes on no matter what my friends are going through in their lives and does not just appear in the happy times.

 

One of the biggest things I have noticed since choosing to move up north is the change in attitudes of some of the genuine friends I have made. They care about me as a person who matters and my feelings, not how posh my home is, whether I have the most modern furniture or wear the latest fashions or how much money I appear to have.

 

What I have always tried to remember over the years of my life is that God My Father is in charge of every step I take and therefore knows every change and provided I continue to have him along side me on my life's journey, then all the changes will be overcome.

 

Lynn Marsden