Wilz brings us a rambling parable about the nature of change

On to our destination, the other longest run in the woods- usually a cool minute(-ish) of speed, sweeps, carves, slides and scrubs before a natural kicker and down to a sharp blind right or mini-path-to-grass rollout.
Unfortunately the felling had continued here in even bigger style, blocking the run completely. It felt like sabotage, like someone had come along and purposely ruined our fun by chopping down loads of perfectly good, huge beech trees and leaving them all over our best runs. Anger, frustration, sadness etc. Bar Stewards.
We trudged back round and made the best of it by sessioning what we could. We pulled some fallen shit out the way to take you onto the big straight bridle path and started using the fallen trees/logs that had been left next to the top drop as fun boxes. Riding mutated. It was great fun, although trying to boardslide it hurt :)

We rode more where we could, creating new lines, and before we knew it, dark was coming. De-pad, head home, reflection time.
So, although this is actually just a pretty-normal tale, some blokes riding boards in the woods one day in November 2009, I thought it was worth expanding the mention due to the bigger picture, the changeable nature of stuff and how we adapt, which is why this has become an article and not just a little blog entry or field report.

No matter how safe, secure, predictable and stable your life is, you will still have to cope with change along the way. Change is a normal and essential part of life, yet, paradoxically (gotta love a paradox), when we’re in the middle of it it can feel anything but normal.
Change obviously come in all shapes and sizes, but ways to deal with it (whatever shape) are similar. It doesn’t make any difference whether you’ve chosen the change, been expecting it, or not: it will still impact on you. Like weather. Dealing with change is about transition, from one set of circumstances to another, and that takes time.

With this mountainboarding sesh as the example, thinking about just how much thinning-out has gone on can only mean the woods will get better (for riding) in the future, long after the logs have been chainsawed-up and taken away. The runs and indeed whole wood will be broader and brighter than ever before. It'll all be alright, if not better.

Quite why I decided to make some insignificant coppicing into a big, reflective self-help metaphor for change i don't know, but i do know that it's happening every second, to some more than others. Also, i'm slightly mental. And with that in mind, may I present a few remolicious pointers about change for those out there struggling with big changes...

People often criticise themselves for feeling moody when emotions are actually totally normal, especially in times of change. Don't beat yourself up!

Change, no matter how good it is, means loss. When something in your life changes you lose the usual way of being or the old set of circumstances. Loss means grief and nostalgia.

Resist and it will be more painful. The secret is to be flexible and you can ride it out more easily. Think of yourself like a boat in a storm. Turn against the waves and they’ll crush you, go with them and they’ll carry you home.

When possible divide bigger changes into smaller steps, like giving a ladder rungs. However, it doesn't work to leap a twenty-foot gap in two ten-foot jumps. Be brave!

Some changes feel awful and you have to look very hard to find the blessing but there always is one in the long-run. It’s through change that we grow wiser and stronger and learn to make better decisions.

All change comes to an end when the new circumstances are in place and become familiar to you. Every change, no matter how big, will end and you’ll return to a feeling of normality. Keep this in mind when you feel as though you’re in the middle of a bumpy ride...