I remember vividly my first childhood visit to a yard sale. The short bike ride down the street to our neighbor’s house was such an adventure; I had a few dollars in my pocket and I knew I would soon have what seemed to me to be a whole world of valuable trinkets and treasures right at my fingertips. There, for just nickels, dimes and quarters, I bought what I deemed to be priceless riches: a tote bag, an old board game, a book or two. To me, these things that my neighbors had thrown out as trash were fresh and exciting, and in my young hands, they found new life and restoration.

Today, restoration is still one of my favorite topics. A country song that I love to sing along with talks about the restoration of old bikes, prom dresses and people and concludes, “It takes a special soul to make the old new again.” I have always believed staunchly in that possibility of transformation, so one evening this week, it pleased me to find that restoration was the subject of the speech of a gifted inspirational speaker whose television show I had just chanced upon.

The speaker spoke of his mother, who, like many “special souls” across this country, makes a living out of bringing new life to what were once old and forgotten relics. A collector of antiques, she restores, finishes and decorates pieces of all sizes before selling them for much more money than she paid to purchase them. In her skillful hands, the speaker said, blemished and nearly useless items are changed into valuable commodities for which there is abundant demand.

We have all seen such astonishing transformation before. In unique little gift shops and antique parlors, things that you and I might have seen as junk have been restored into beautiful treasures that we cherish so much more than new department store goodies. This reformation of old into new amazes us, indeed, but, we all know that those transformed pieces are just material objects. It is in us, the people of this world, that change becomes a much different and more difficult matter.

The cynicals of this world would be quick to tell us that people just don’t change. They would say that the process of renewal is saved only for those old trunks and mirrors and such that fill the homes of collectors everywhere, but I have to believe that’s just not true. Change is difficult, no doubt. It’s a challenge, an uphill battle, and a phenomenon that goes against our very humanistic nature. But, despite the ferocious odds against human transformation, some people really do achieve it.

That is a fact proven time and again throughout history. Did not Albert Einstein change the world after first changing himself from an underachieving and rebellious college student into the most respected physicist that has ever lived? Didn’t former first lady Betty Ford transform herself from a seemingly lost cause alcoholic and prescription drug addict into one of the world’s most influential advocates for addiction recovery as the founder of the Betty Ford Center? And, just over 2,000 years ago, didn’t a man named Jesus choose 12 flawed and morally lacking souls to be his disciples? Most of those men, the Bible tells us, went on to become righteous leaders of the first generation of Christians, faithfully sowing the seeds of God’s word that continue to reap harvests for us today.

Similarly inspiring stories of change and restoration abound around us, helping this wonderful fact of life to become strikingly clear: People do change. Or rather, they can, when they really, truly desire to do so.

Springtime is finally on the verge of breaking here in Mercer County, and soon, all around us, we will begin to see the beautiful signs of the earth’s restoration in full bloom once again. Leaves will fill out the trees that for so long now have loomed lifeless and drear. Blossoms will sprout where the ground until now has stood frozen and cold. Everywhere, radiance and color will be replacing the gloomy sights of a long, hard winter just past. It is an annual phenomenon that continues to hold the power to amaze and inspire us, no matter how many times we have witnessed it.

And, as we allow ourselves to be captured by that restorative power of the season, planting our gardens, cleaning out our homes, or just taking a few moments to sit and revel in the pleasures of the warmth and sunshine of a gorgeous spring day, many of us will probably be feeling the urge for a little personal restoration, as well. We all have characteristics, habits, and traits that we would like to change about ourselves. Some are big and some are small, some require significant lifestyle changes, while others take only a little discipline to make. But, all of these changes, if they will make us better people, are worth making, and all of them are possible to make, too, no matter how high that restorative hill seems right now.

People can change. We need only to take our inspiration from the blooming earth around us, and the wonderful transformation that is spring.

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”         — Carl Rogers

CharLy Markwart is a Princeton Times reporter. Contact her at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.