We went to a reception…welcoming our new principal to the community…to the 
school…this week…it was a lovely celebration…the mayor spoke…members of the community spoke…parents spoke…the superintendent spoke…staff members spoke…all welcoming…and offering…full support…to the principal…the school…the students…
It was a beautiful evening…lots of good energy…lots of hope for the future…everyone on the same page…
Of course…Bertha…attended…she never misses an opportunity to dress in her finest…and…highest…heels…and…she had a wonderful time…but…she was quick to point out that…the evening reminded her of my life…
Huh…
Well…according to…Bertha…it’s all about embracing change…and…even…gulp…celebrating it…
Bertha…reminds me that…only a few months ago…our new principal was asked to leave…her…school…where she had been for a number of years…had been quite successful…was well loved…by the…students…staff…community…and…begin again…at our school…
She could have refused to…come…if not in body…at least in spirit…but…she embraced the change…
Bertha…also pointed out…that our school’s community…loved and supported our former principal…it would have been easy…for them to balk…to refuse to work with the new one…to set her up to fail…instead…they embraced the change…they threw a party…
She then goes on to remind me of changes in my own life…times when I didn’t…embrace…the change…times when I kicked and screamed…and…swore…life would never be okay again…yes…I can get a little melodramatic…
And…I remember those times…what I also remember…is that…bar none…life was not only okay again…it was actually better…as a direct result of the change I had so resisted…
So…Bertha’s…challenge…is…that…from now on…instead of resisting change…that I embrace it…throw a party…celebrate…the coming of the unknown…knowing that…it will be…better than before…
Jane
