Hello, Anyway

Some changes arrive quietly.

A child grows older. A familiar routine disappears. A relationship fades. Something that once mattered becomes less important.

Some changes open doors I never expected to find. They bring new people, new interests, new possibilities. Some of the changes I once resisted have even left me grateful.

Other changes close doors I never expected to lose. There is no undoing them, and no amount of optimism can turn them into changes I would have chosen.

And then there are the changes I knew were coming. Even those can feel different when they finally arrive.

Perhaps that is what makes change so difficult to understand. It has no single character. It can bring relief or grief, possibility or loss. Sometimes I welcome it. Sometimes I would give anything to send it away.

But change does not wait for my verdict. Once something has changed, I am left with a different life from the one I had before. I may need a long time before I know what it means.

I can only keep learning to live with what is here.

Perhaps that is all hello means.

Not I wanted you.
Not I am glad you came.

Just an acknowledgment:

You are here now.

Hello, change.