THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE

 The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said: "No man steps in the same river twice. For it is not the same river, and he is not the same man." The only constant is change.

The thing with impermanence is that because we only change a tiny bit every day, we get lulled into a false sense of security. That's why some of us dread birthdays. While we're getting older every day, its only on the symbolic day when we celebrate being one year older that we think about what getting older means.

Our bodies change. Our lives change. Little by little the nature of our relationships changes: they grow stronger, weaker, or simply change shape. We only notice these changes or indeed accept them at specific moments: break-ups, or weddings for example.

And weirdly, even when change is positive it can be disorienting.

Earlier this week, the office I've occupied in most of my waking hours for the past three years transformed into this:

Three years ago almost to the day, I started my MyRoom Gestion, my small property management company. It was just me, my blue 2002 Honda Civic, 100 business cards, and a tank full of gas. This office was the second half of my bedroom. I could see my workstation with my head on the pillow. (Not the best configuration for a peaceful personal life by the way!!)

I can remember telling a good friend of mine: "As long as I have a tank of gas in the car and money on my cell, I'm doing ok."

And, little by little, client by client, we've grown to have a 150 doors in our empire, until -- this week -- we graduated to have a real, full fledged office that no one needs to see from their bedroom !

So why the odd feeling of emptiness? Shouldn't it be all champagne and lollipops from here on in?

No. The reality with change is that it leaves us feeling unsettled, nostalgic for what we're leaving behind.

In my case, this room will have a new function: what will it become? A library? A reading and writing room? A room full of puzzle mats where I can invite my Ju Jitsu friends over to "roll"?

More importantly, what will I become? Today I became the girl with the corner office. Be careful what you wish for! Sure, it's exciting. But to become that girl means saying goodbye to the carefree days where a tank full of gas and a cell phone were enough. Of course, this process has happened slowly over the past three years. I am only realizing it today, looking at this empty room.

Inshallah: these are good problems to have. Just like turning 40 with a few healthy kids, a mortgage, and a happy marriage. Just because we're happy doesn't mean we don't count the grey hairs and reminisce about the "glory days" of high school !!

Where will I be three years from now? Where will you be? And on how many days will we step into the same circumstances without realizing that we're changed just a little bit...