It has often been said that the only things certain in life is death and taxes. I’d like to add\u00a0Change. If we are living at all, we are constantly changing, as a people, as a community, as a\u00a0country. And usually change is very difficult. It’s often so easy to leaves things just as they are,\u00a0with the familiar seeming better than the unknown. However, this can keep us trapped in mind\u00a0sets that often leads to stagnation for a community or mental and physical distress as a people. I\u00a0believe many of today’s ills are because of the difficulty faced when the need for change is\u00a0eminent. That’s true for one individual, one’s family, one’s business or one’s community or\u00a0country.<\/p>\n
Personally, I welcome change. Not to change causes me intense physical and mental pain. I\u00a0recall, as a child, when change was not an option in my life. My early years were painful leaving\u00a0my body physically abused, my voice silenced and my spirit crushed. It would take me many\u00a0years to overcome those early years.<\/p>\n
Let me share this poem by James T. Moore with you.<\/p>\n
There seems to be an extra hard requirement in living,<\/em> For the most part, I have learned to change course, to listen to that Still Small Voice, to make the The greatest source of strength, and I believe the principle ingredient in my success has come The environment I was raised in, was, by to-days standards, incredibly harsh. I continue to work Joan Brooks makes her home in Wawa, Ontario. Comments are always welcome and can be made through email: It has often been said that the only things certain in life is death and taxes. I’d like to add\u00a0Change. If we are living at all, we are constantly changing, as a people, as a community, as a\u00a0country. And usually change is very difficult. It’s often so easy to leaves things just as they are,\u00a0with …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1920],"class_list":["post-18443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-pathways"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 10:49:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18444,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18443\/revisions\/18444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAlong with patience, hope and love, and that old standby, giving<\/em>
\nThis necessary item is a job to put in words, <\/em>
\nbut those who know, and practice it, live far above the herds. <\/em>
\nThe caterpillar struggles to emerge a butterfly,<\/em>
\nAnd living means, apparently, some changes by and by.<\/em>
\nThe Still Small Voice may beckon, so change plans without remorse,<\/em>
\nGreat things are done and battles won by sometimes changing course.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nhard decisions that free my mind, strengthen my body and nourish my soul. And in doing so I am
\nable transcend the many challenges that change creates. Those changes rose from acquiescent
\nchild to compliant teenager, to submissive wife and mother, to single parenting four children,
\nfrom crippling physical and mental illnesses to vibrant health, from high school drop out to
\ncollege graduate, from housewife and mother to a multi-career woman.<\/p>\n
\nfrom my mental and physical fitness routine. This includes walking, yoga and meditation,
\ncalisthenics and others – swimming, hiking and kayaking, depending on what’s happening in my
\nlife. Walking has been the one ingredient which has remained through the past 35 – 40 years. It is
\nwell documented how physical activity helps in dealing with the pressures in our everyday lives.
\nI often walk up to 20 miles a week. I practice Yoga and meditation daily, and when I really need
\nto increase my stamina I do calisthenics. And, I do this first thing in the morning. If it doesn’t get
\ndone before I began my day, it just doesn’t happen.<\/p>\n
\non banishing the resulting myths and beliefs that have crippled me. I have learned that while
\nthey gave me structure, they also instilled in me the feelings of never being good enough, of not
\ndeserving the good that is in my life. And Now!! Life is Great…’til next time this is Joan. Shoot
\nfor the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the Stars. (Les Brown)<\/p>\n
\njoanbrooks@shaw.ca, telephone 856-0652 or by writing to Box 682, Wawa, On P0S 1K0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"