Learning to be grateful for change

Next week, Norris Avenue will be closed to traffic for the annual Heritage Days parade in McCook. People will be lining the sidewalks, while kids will be dashing around trying to grab the most pieces of candy. Floats will slowly make their way down the streets, as neighbors and friends greet each other throughout the morning of Saturday, Oct. 14.

When the parade is over, the barriers will be removed and traffic will resume. But for just a few hours, people won’t think twice about having to park a little further away from their destination and walk a few extra blocks. People will understand that there might be a slight detour on their route through town. People may be slightly inconvenienced by going a few blocks out of their way to find an open intersection.

But the parade isn’t the only time next week that traffic will be affected on Norris Avenue in downtown McCook.

The McCook Community Foundation Fund is hosting the second annual Heritage Days Community Celebration on Thursday, Oct. 12. From 6-9 p.m., there will be free games and activities, music and a hamburger feed for a free-will donation to benefit Beautify McCook on Norris Avenue between D and E Streets.

The McCook Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a beer garden with a cash bar in Norris Alley between the Fox and Keystone, while MCFF will be highlighting just a few of its impactful grants made over the years.

To make this happen, Norris Avenue will be shut down on the block needed for the celebration next Thursday evening. This may inconvenience drivers and parking may be a bit harder to come by, but these disruptions mean that something is happening.

These upcoming events are a great example of adapting to change for a short period of time and a willingness to make a small sacrifice for the good of others.

The big question is whether people are willing to accept change long-term or make a larger sacrifice for their fellow citizens.

It is natural to be adverse to change. With change comes a fear of the unknown. We don’t know the outcome. We don’t know if we’ll be better off afterward.

It is easy to stay with what we know and makes us comfortable. It is harder to go with what we don’t know and what makes us uncomfortable.

But to move forward, to make things happen, to create communities that we and others want to live in, we have to accept change and we have to take chances. We have to be willing to fail and even scarier, we have to be willing to succeed because that is when the real work begins.

These upcoming events as part of the McCook Chamber’s Heritage Days spotlight the great things in our community. But they also give a glimpse of what can be and what we can do if we are willing to make a few changes to our routines, to our lifestyles, to our community.

And if you do happen to come upon the detours next week, you have a couple of options. You can get annoyed at the extra five seconds the diversion adds to your drive time.

Alternatively, you can calmly drive around the extra block and be grateful that something is going in your community that others may enjoy.

Or even better, you can park your vehicle, walk down and join the festivities, activities and changes ... all of which are making McCook and Southwest Nebraska an even better place to call home.