Change is Good

I was at the bookstore the other day. This is one of the places where I can find my center. Walk around a bit, look at the new books, listen to the relaxing music in the background for the most part and sip my latte. Walk combined with music and caffeine, I can't go wrong there.

This particular quote by Anais Nin caught my eye, "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the ris k it took to blossom." How true in my case. I was very young when I first set foot in America. The immigration officer who interviewed me told my mom and I that I am very young and I am sure to change. I thought to myself that day that I will never change and I'll never forget the values instilled in me by my parents.

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Here again, I was very young, not exposed to very much and thought that what I learned from Church and the nuns who ran my school were the one and only truth. That everything else is pretty much wrong. That if you're not Catholic, you're an outcast. I had no concept of other religions and beliefs. I had the if you're not with us, you're against us mentality. Now that I know better, that was awful and it's awful that so many innocent minds still believe that wholeheartedly to this very day just like I did.

Religion aside, I thought that changing was the wrong thing to do. I thought I had to stand my ground and preserve myself no matter what it took, no matter how hard it will be. I quickly learned that if I was to survive and adapt, I would have to embrace a Japanese proverb that says, "The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists." So I started bending. It wasn't easy. Bending can give you back pain but bending was way better than breaking.