"Happy people don't just welcome change, they embrace it!"

Wise words indeed, from acclaimed author Andrew Matthews, of self-help books "Being A Happy Teenager" and "Happiness in a Nutshell" fame.

I was raised in a happy family, with my every needs (and wants) catered to. Lack of necessities was never an issue to me, and I'd like to think that I was thankful and content without being spoiled. I was content. Which was probably the main reason why I refused to let the winds of change tear my beautiful world apart.

I didn't merely hate change; in fact I was terrified of it. I didn't like losing sight of my comfort zone, being thrown into the water and flailing to survive.

This past year has been a particularly difficult year for me. Sure I've heard that your teenage-hood is supposed to be the best years of your life, but apparently the hardest too. See when you're a teenager you are pretty much stuck in the middle, taking slow steps out of childhood and posed on the brink of adulthood. It's definitely an awkward age, where you have to deal with changes, physically, mentally and emotionally.

This is a quote from "The Diary of Anne Frank", which I find exceptionally poignant and true to life: "Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old. Older people have an opinion about everything and are sure of themselves and their actions. It's twice as hard for us young people to hold on to our opinions when ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when everyone has come to doubt truth, justice and God."

She hit the nail on the head. Of course, the circumstances of teenagers today are not as harsh as what Anne experienced during the World War II, but yes, it is a period of confusion, as most teenagers would undoubtedly agree. It is a time when we are still doing a tremendous amount of soul- searching, trying to find our calling in life, wondering about the mysterious elements of life. Raging teenage hormones do not seem to add favourably to this complicated mix.

Right down to the smallest aspect, I hated change. Even when I'm told to edit or condense my stories, I don't welcome it. Call it stubborn or just plain ignorant. I hated the fact that my elder sister had to leave in pursuit of her studies overseas. The distance would probably push us apart from each other, which is a heart-wrenching thought considering that growing up, we were practically as close as twins. I was forced to come to terms with the separation from my "other half" as people dubbed us. Yet by now I've come to relish the small favours of being "the only child", such as the pleasure of not having to share the remote control and being able to make all the decisions on my own.

I also grew out of my teenybopper boyband-loving phase (don't get me wrong I'm still partial to a bit of Westlife but not to the extent of plastering my walls with posters of them and kissing them every night-hey laugh all you want but I'm sure I wasn't the only one) to more of a rock inclined person. It was a shock to discover that my old boyband albums didn't seem to hold the magic and allure they did before, and that one listen didn't make all my troubles seem so far that's the Beatles. But then again change is part and parcel of the passing of time.

Yet even with that mentality, it is always a shock when feelings change. When people fall in and out of love. Within a matter of seconds, the whole world came crashing down as soon as that special someone told me that he did not feel the same any longer, and that it would be best if we "took a break". And I was left wondering what happened. What I did wrong. The sad truth is, I didn't do anything wrong. Time changed him, and jealously took his heart away from me. Change can be so heartless sometimes.

As I'm growing older, and hopefully more mature, I've come to accept the fact that nothing stays the same. As sure as a caterpillar's development into a butterfly, the constant change and progress going on around us are inevitable. If time stood still, yes, we would be able to keep things the way they are, the way we want them to. But that, I admit, is nothing more than a fool's hope.

Some might argue that change is what makes the world interesting. Wouldn't it be monotonous if everything was everlasting? Wouldn't you get bored of familiarity? Certainly, but even these happy go lucky people must have moments when they reflect upon the past with wistful smiles on their faces. Have you never wished that you could regress back to your childhood, those pre-boyfriends, heartache and peer pressure days? Days when all you had to worry about was annoying the hell out of your elder siblings and having truckloads of fun. Hence the quotation from one Mr Matthews "The challenge of life is to appreciate everything and attach yourself to nothing." We'll always be able to look back, and cherish those days of innocence as fond memories. But that's all they'll ever be. Memories. There's no use yearning for something we can never have. So. anyone invented a time-travelling machine yet?

I used to believe that change was a scary part of growing up. But once you put things in perspective, it's probably for the better. We all have to learn to accept it, to adapt to new and unusual situations to conquer our fear of leaving our comfort zone. Imagine a world without change. Let's put it this way-if mankind did not keep evolving and improving themselves we would still be dwelling in caves or living in fear of falling off the edge of the world if we sailed too far. Internet and MTV would be nonexistent (horrors!) and our only form of entertainment-painting on cave walls.

I've learnt to make the best of each situation, and to quickly find my footing no matter what situations life throws at me. Change is not a thing to be feared. Believe and you will find your way.

"You cannot change the direction of the you can change your sails."