Ch..Ch..Ch..Ch.. Changes

An N3 Editorial

"So you watch yourself about complaining.
What you're supposed to do
when you don't like a thing is change it.
If you can't change it,
change the way you think about it.”-Maya Angelou

Maya always seemed to be able to capture  deep concepts into her wonderful weaving of words.

So what is it about change that unsettles  us? Not all change of course. Anything altered out of our own doing or desire generally suits us better but when the unexpected, unprepared for, unknown and unwanted arrive we resist, reject, and refuse to consider any level of acceptance.

We get it. Change is tough. Don’t believe us? Here’s an experiment.
For the next week when you wake up in the morning and it becomes time to get dressed? Think about what leg you always start with when putting on pants. 
Then put in the opposite leg first. 
Small change right? Easy?
Well, chances are you’ll find it’s awkward as hell and soon you’ll return to the familiar way of hitching up the leggings.

Recently Newaygo City Council member Eric Johnson shared his thoughts about the alteration in the downtown traffic lanes along with some other projected changes in the near future.
https://www.nearnorthnow.com/the-pulse/guest-column-changes-in-newaygo

He noted the several meetings that have been held over the past couple of years involving increasing the town's ‘walkability’.
Numbers  at these meetings weren’t bad for such gatherings however they were mostly attended by the same folks and none of the crowds came close to the amount of people in attendance at the average freshman basketball game.

And now it looks like downtown travel will change. There will likely be voices who bemoan such moves claiming to not have heard anything about the initiative and even sometimes feeling betrayed by those making the changes. 
This seems to happen a lot and interestingly enough even in these days of instantaneous  interaction, prolific local social media, and the ever grinding rumor mill (see fireworks store) some folks just don’t seem to get the memos. Others who did indeed hear of the doings may not take the time necessary to attend the meetings. Thus the city’s attempts at inclusiveness while admirable don’t always generate the dialogue desired.

Other towns in our fair county have been experiencing change as well. The County Seat of White Cloud is looking at the possibility of a Hope Network housing initiative that has drawn some pushback  from the townsfolk and the burg is bracing for the burgeoning cannabis businesses beginning to blossom in the city limits. Fremont recently completed their bypass, an effort that met with some ongoing resistance, and they are dealing with a change at the top of their police department while Hesperia would like to make some changes but they can’t field a team (quorum) to do so.

Don’t like what’s happening? Go to the next meeting. Try to bring along an open mind and be prepared to listen. The city seems to be trying to gain input from the citizenry which is  a commendable effort so take the offering and get engaged.

Try to remember that change, while not always comfortable, is surely inevitable.
And should the decisions made and the initiatives put forth end up not working out?
They can always be changed, right?

“I put a dollar in one of those change machines but nothing changed.”- George Carlin

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