Learn To Embrace Change

I do not fully agree with Benjamin Franklin when he said…
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”.

It is CHANGE, of which we can be absolutely certain, and when we develop personal strategies for adjusting to changes in our life, the better we can continue to enjoy those things, activities and people we love.

Some people have a difficult time accepting change. From their point of view, their lives shouldn’t have left a certain moment in time, when everything seemed to fit perfectly.

Looking too much in the past, or scanning the future with too much devotion, can strip life from the joy of being an active part of it.

It was Charles R. Darwin, a great observer of behavior, who said that, “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”. Plus, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”.

There is no instant solution for shifting from your current state to the one of which you dream. Learning to embrace change means you need to open your mind towards acceptance of what is new and foreign.

Change is directly linked with our comfort zone and going outside its limits can be quite challenging and confronting. We continually strive to achieve equilibrium between intention and reality.

Change is ultimately about leaving the realm of dreams, concepts and words and putting yourself to work. A change that we did not personally initiate or cause, can throw us into a bit of a spin.

The smallest step that you can take in the direction you mean to travel, without feeling hopeless and lost, is to write down something.

List all the things that cross your mind regarding the change(s). Include the disruptive or awful things that you believe might now happen, as a result.

Read back through them and after each point, say out loud, “Is that really so?” while reflecting on them, one by one. What are the answers flooding into your mind? Do you find yourself arguing for your life’s limitations or do you see positive, potential openings for action?

The aim is to have your mind feeling at peace and getting yourself to a place of pure acknowledgement and acceptance of the new events.

Once you feel that you are there, you can begin jotting down ideas for ways in which to respond. Write down all possible actions you could take, even the silliest ones. You’re allowed to laugh, in fact it’s mandatory!

Simply by articulating your thoughts and putting pen to paper, your mind becomes less cluttered, you’ve reduced the sense of panic, as well as slowed down your thought processes, which have likely gone into overdrive at the idea of managing new circumstances. This is the power of welcoming change by switching to another place to look from.

Now, choose your top preferred options for responding to the change(s). Select actions that are most empowering and beneficial to everyone involved, including yourself.

Which of those actions MUST you make happen? Then go ahead and respond to the change(s), in preference to reacting with panic and a “knee jerk”!

BIO: Listen to Thea Westra’s FREE 50-minute audio titled 100 Forward Steps Life Power Tips. You also get a FREE PDF ebook of “179 Forward Steps” life power tips, to accompany the MP3. In fact, you get 50 free self improvement ebooks!