Change – Page 4 – Melissa Schlies

Three Things To Do When You Want To Escape Your Life

Growing up, there was a common theme that ran through many of the movies I watched and books I read. The main character or hero was presented with a choice: Go follow your dreams OR stay where everything is familiar and always wonder what would have happened if you left. In ninety-nine percent of those stories, the hero left home. "Go follow your dreams" OR "stay where everything is familiar and always wonder what would have happened if you left." The protagonist said goodbye to all she knew, and set out on her own. Sure, in many stories, she came [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-22T23:05:02+00:00July 23rd, 2020|Categories: Change, Character, Courage, Depression, Freedom, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Making Decisions, perseverance|Comments Off

How To Find The Courage to Stay, When You Just Want to Leave

Friends, many of us are finding ourselves in uncomfortable places with all that is going on in our world. Many of us want to make a change that may not be what’s best for us. That is why as a part of this month’s series on Change, I’m re-sharing this post—one of my most read to date—about learning how to stay even when it’s difficult. May it give you courage to stay, if you are right where you need to be. “We want life to have meaning, we want fulfillment, healing, and even ecstasy, but the human paradox is that [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-16T23:37:46+00:00July 20th, 2020|Categories: Change, Courage, Faith, Hope, perseverance|Comments Off

On Finding Balance the Midst of Change

When I was a kid, the place I most wanted to be in the summer was the beach. As we were fortunate to live close to one, it was where my mom took me and my sisters almost daily. After all, there are endless activities to entertain four girls at the beach. There are sandcastles to build, sea shells to find, and waves to chase. Only, that last one didn’t always go as we planned. I remember my sisters and I running into the ice cold, foaming salt water just far enough so we could ride the waves into shore. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-15T23:46:26+00:00July 16th, 2020|Categories: Balance, Change, Character, Conflict, Failure, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance|Comments Off

What if the Change That Feels Like Loss, is Actually Good?

Hello friends, last year, Tony and I went to California for vacation (remember traveling?), and I learned something about change in the Redwood forest of all places. Then, of course I wrote about it. It felt like such an important lesson for me that I thought I'd re-share with you for a part of this month's series on Change. Enjoy! Other than the sound of gravel crunching beneath our hiking shoes, it was quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you hesitant to speak. And when you do, it makes you whisper. All around us giant redwood trees towered above [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-13T15:07:53+00:00July 13th, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Change, Courage, Depression, Failure, Faith, Hope, Preparation|Comments Off

What Helped Me Get Unstuck

To best appreciate this post, read this first. The hot July sun tried to pierce through the trees, as we made our way down the trail, only the tree cover was thick enough to keep us cool. My sister and brother-in-law were visiting us from Massachusetts, and we were showing them one of our favorite places, Ricketts Glen State Park. At this point, we had hiked the trails that pass by the majority of the waterfalls in the park, but we wanted to make a stop at Adams Falls as well. We walked down the path to the bottom, where [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-06T14:50:18+00:00July 9th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Faith, Fear, Freedom, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Making Decisions, Preparation|Comments Off

When You Feel Stuck & Change Feels Impossible

As we've all been in a time of great change this season, this month all the posts here will be about change in some form. Today, I am re-sharing a post from a few years ago about when there was a change I needed to make that felt impossible. I hope it gives you hope for any changes you are longing to make. Six years ago, on a hot, sunny Saturday over Labor Day weekend, I stood at the top of a waterfall. I stared at the cool pool of water collecting just before spilling over the edge, and debated [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-29T15:40:02+00:00July 6th, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Change, Courage, Fear, Freedom, Hope|Comments Off

Five Reasons Not To Ignore Self Care During Times of Change

There are two kinds of change in this world: The change we long for and the change that finds us. Before 2020, the timing of these changes were typically different for each of us. For me, I got married after a lot of my friends but before all of my sisters. And when my first career was ending, some of my friends’ jobs were just taking off. But then COVID hit, and change found us all. Our world came to a stand still, and our lives changed in ways we are still discovering. Collectively we’ve all experienced trauma, while individually [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-30T15:30:26+00:00July 2nd, 2020|Categories: Balance, Change, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health, Practice, Self Care|Comments Off

Change Isn’t Pretty: Why We Don’t (Always) Have to Despair When We Watch The News

More times than I can count, someone close to me has said the following: “Melissa, you hate change.” In some situations, it’s been said like an accusation that stung. In others, there was a tone of compassion. And always, it was in response to me lamenting about a situation in my life I had no control over. A situation in my life that meant: Change was happening whether I liked it or not. Over the past month or so, there have been anti-racism marches in countless cities and towns across the US. And though they mostly consisted of peaceful protesters, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-28T11:43:02+00:00June 29th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Depression, Fear, Hope, Racism|Comments Off

To Fight Racism, We Need to Better Understand Racism (A Few Resources to Help)

If your friend called you in the middle of the night, upset, what would you do? Before getting up and driving over to their home, before making a plan on how best to help them— You’d listen, right? You’d ask them to take a deep breath, then to tell you what was wrong. You wouldn’t come over and fix the problem—because you don’t even know what the problem is yet. You wouldn’t tell them to call you in the morning; you care too much about them. You would listen. On Monday, I shared where I am at on my journey [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-03T22:46:38+00:00June 4th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Good Books, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Racism|Comments Off

To The Class of 2020, & The Lessons We’re All Learning

When the clock strikes Midnight on January 1, 2021, all of us are going to feel like the class of 2020. Collectively, we will feel like we survived the most widespread trial of our time—with all the politics and conspiracies that went with it. And, if we’re in a better place (Lord, we pray), we will feel like we’re graduating from one of the most challenging years of our lives. But right now, in May, academically speaking, the real Class of 2020 deserves their due. As many of you know by now, I was a youth pastor for over seven [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-05-13T23:50:41+00:00May 14th, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Adulting, Change, Courage, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Success|Comments Off

Three Things To Do When You Want To Escape Your Life

How To Find The Courage to Stay, When You Just Want to Leave

On Finding Balance the Midst of Change

What if the Change That Feels Like Loss, is Actually Good?

What Helped Me Get Unstuck

When You Feel Stuck & Change Feels Impossible

Five Reasons Not To Ignore Self Care During Times of Change

Change Isn’t Pretty: Why We Don’t (Always) Have to Despair When We Watch The News

To Fight Racism, We Need to Better Understand Racism (A Few Resources to Help)

To The Class of 2020, & The Lessons We’re All Learning

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