Change
“CHANGE”
There was a man that was very set in his ways. From the time he got out of bed in the morning to the time he got back into it each night he stuck to the same routine as much as humanly possible. Each morning he would carefully dress for work before walking to the bus stop two blocks south of his apartment. As he walked, he counted his steps and paid close attention to where his feet landed on the pavement, trying to step in the same spots each day. When he reached the bus stop, he always sat on the right corner of the bench, and counted the cars that passed until his bus arrived.
He maintained his routine for seven years without incident and was very comfortable in his life, but one day things changed. As he arrived at the bus stop a bright yellow piece of paper on the display board behind the bench caught his attention. The notice read, “Route 20 has been cancelled effective immediately due to a shortage of riders. Please check the map for alternate routes.” This made the man very unhappy. He was very comfortable with his routine and did not want things to change, but now he was being forced to seek an alternate route to work without any advance warning.
He scrutinized the notice for a moment to make sure it was official. After accepting that it was indeed from the transit authority, the man began to panic. He had always ridden the number 20 to and from work and sat in the exact seat each time. How was he going to get to work now? A couple minutes passed before he regained his composure.
He scanned the map to locate an alternate route as the notice had suggested. There were several routes, each highlighted in a different color and intersecting at various points around the city. Not only was the map confusing, but also well worn and the print was badly faded, so the man was having a hard time reading it. With no luck at locating an alternate route he turned from the map and looked off in the direction of his apartment, contemplating whether he should just go back home and call in sick.
He decided to give the map another try before throwing in the towel. He located his regular route then traced his finger along the map until he found another bus route that ran parallel to it and would deposit him near the office complex in which he worked. Then he looked for the bus stop closest to him, which was four blocks north and two blocks east of his current location. He checked his watch then scrolled his finger across the bus timetable. Seeing that the next bus was due to arrive in six minutes, the man dashed across the street and hurried up the sidewalk.
As he rounded the corner, he saw the number 22 bus pulling away from the curb just up ahead of him. He waved his hands and shouted after it but the driver did not notice him. Out of breathe and highly frustrated with how his morning was going, the man swore under his breath as he walked toward the bus timetable. He located the new route number and scrolled his finger down the list. The next bus would not arrive for 22 minutes. He turned to take a seat on the bench, but it was already full of passengers waiting for their buses to arrive. The man swore again as he looked around for a place to rest and wait for the bus.
He spotted a coffee shop on the next corner. As he approached the entrance, the man saw a long line of customers waiting inside to be served. The line nearly reached the door. As he stood in front of the door contemplating whether to go inside or return to the bus stop, another customer walked up behind him. Realizing he was blocking the door, he stepped inside. Though the queue was long, the staff was very efficient and the line moved quickly. Before long, the man received his cup of coffee and found a seat at a small table near the window that had just became available.
Coffee cup in hand, the man gazed aimlessly out the window and reflected on how crappy his day was going. First, his regular bus route for seven years was cancelled without warning. Then he had to decipher an almost illegible map to find another route and maneuver through the crowded sidewalks to arrive just as the bus was pulling away. He tried to take a seat on the bench but it was full, the line in the coffee shop was long and he was seated at the only available table in the place but it was littered with condiment debris and spilled coffee from the earlier patrons. He swore under his breath then took a sip of his coffee.
Behind him someone asked, “Is that seat taken?” He turned to see if the person had been talking to him. A woman was standing there with a cup of coffee in one hand, a briefcase in the other and a newspaper tucked under her arm. The man felt the heat rush to his face as she repeated the question, indicating the chair across from his.
He shook his head as he reached across the table and pushed out the chair for her. She set her things down and thanked him for his assistance. The two of them struck up a conversation. She told him that she stopped at the coffee shop every morning before catching her bus to work. As he explained to her about his regular route being cancelled and all the trouble it caused him, he realized it didn’t frustrate him as much as it had before. The woman teased him, “At least you got a great cup of coffee out of it.” And he couldn’t help but to smile. They finished their coffee and headed to the bus stop, taking seats next to each other when the bus arrived and chatting the entire journey.
Several months later, the man and the woman were married. They moved into a larger apartment just down the block from the coffee shop where they had met and stopped in for a cup of coffee each morning before taking the number 22 bus to their jobs in the neighboring city. When the coffee shop came up for sale a few years later, the couple purchased it and left their jobs to run it. They implemented several changes that improved the little coffee shop, and their business grew. By their twentieth wedding anniversary they had a chain of seven coffee shops, all near bus routes. They worked together in the original coffee shop location where they met for thirty-six years before retiring to Florida and leaving the business to their children.
Recap: A man, very set in his ways, was forced to find an alternate route to work when his regular bus service was cancelled. He faced a few challenges and set backs that caused him frustration, but he continued to move forward. After missing his bus, he ended up in a crowded coffee shop. But in the middle of his despair he met a woman that helped him to put things in perspective. He realized the trouble he experienced really wasn’t very significant and he was able to smile. The man and woman later married, purchased the coffee shop where they met and had a successful life together, leaving a legacy for their children.
The Moral: Embrace change when it comes. One small change may force you out of your comfort zone and onto a path leading to a wonderful future you never imagined.
Problems seem bigger when you dwell on them. But a friend can help you to keep things in perspective.
Whether you choose to make a change or your circumstances force you to make one, embrace that change and move forward towards your destiny.
You have to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow.
Life Lessons:
Keep moving forward despite the challenges. What if the man had chosen to give up on finding a route to work, choosing instead to return to the comfort and familiarity of his apartment? He would miss out on a wonderful future and make his present situation worse, because eventually he would lose his job and his apartment.
It’s okay to be frustrated, but don’t lose control. What if missing the bus and not getting a seat on the bench was the breaking point for the man and he decided to take out his frustrations on the other passengers? He could have hurt someone or been hurt himself if he lost his self-control for even a second. His actions would have repercussions that would keep him from his destiny.
Patience is always a virtue. He arrives at the coffee shop, which turns out to be a pivotal point of his life, but doesn’t know that by going inside his life will change forever. What if he let the long line of waiting customers deter him from entering? He would not have realized how quickly the line progressed and he would not have met his future wife that day.
Don’t be afraid to go above and beyond what’s required of you. He could have let the mess left behind by someone else keep him from taking his place at the table. Instead, he pulled up a chair and brushed their debris out of his way. Sometimes you have to clean up someone else’s mess before you can move forward.
Take your mind off your troubles by helping someone else. As he was wallowing in self-pity, someone in need of assistance interrupted him, causing him to take his mind off his own troubles.
Don’t close yourself off to new friendships. The man offered the woman a seat and his friendship that day. He could have kept to himself like he always did in the past, but he didn’t. He allowed himself to form a new friendship, which blossomed into a beautiful lifelong relationship.
Let one change lead to another. The man left the job that he held for a very long time to take a chance at running his own business. But he didn’t allow himself to fall into another rut; he kept expanding and growing the business.
Summary: Next time you find yourself faced with change, don’t dismay. Approach the change with a positive attitude and though you may face challenges along the way, keep moving forward. Eventually you will find yourself in a much better place than you even imagined.
