Tag Archives: dealing with change

21

Change Cycles

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Change is a topic that comes to my mind often, probably because we are always experiencing its effects.  We are not the same today as we were yesterday, and tomorrow we will be different still. That is the way of life.  Often we move through our experiences seeing no difference whatsoever, but when you look back over the last ten years, we have, of course, experienced changes that are deep and wide from where we were.  There have been lessons learned, positive and negative. Beliefs have been built, destroyed, and built back up again.  Life is a consistent cycle of change from one thing to another. From this situation to that. Driven by a combination of our choices and the inevitable framework of nature.  The best we can do is have a talent for accepting the changes we can’t control and making good decisions about the ones we can choose.

No Choice Changes

There are many circumstances in life we have no choice about.  Who our parents are is not a choice, and we are born into the mercy of the adults in our lives. Suppose they provide a safe, caring environment or not is out of our control.  Were we nurtured and cared for or abandoned and neglected? Either way, at some point, we have to take responsibility for ourselves and decide what type of person we want to be. That is a choice that is ours individually.

Natural disasters occur, crime happens, loved ones pass away,  accidents of all sorts, and all are happening out of our control. Change is happening all the time.  We do not choose these things, but they bring change to our lives nonetheless.  The choice is always in how you deal with these changes.  Most people are faced with several watershed moments in their lives when life will never be the same again. What do you do in those moments? That is what will define you and your contribution to the world. You know them because you define your life as a time before this or after that.  We all are faced with unsought tragedy and challenges. How we choose to deal with it will be the factor that defines us.

Choice Changes

Then there are the changes we do participate in choosing.  Seeing something in yourself and wanting to improve it are common examples of this. To quit a bad habit, or to start participating in a good one.  All are choices.  We have quite a lot of control over our experiences in life through our choices in action and attitude. Most things can be fun, entertaining, and enlightening if you choose an attitude of enjoyment.  You always have the choice of being negative and wishing you were somewhere else. This will succeed in making you and all around you miserable, but that is a choice you can make.

When setting and achieving goals, change is what we are after. What do you want to accomplish? What are you willing to give to get it? What actions can you take? What resources can you take advantage of?  All of these choices will determine how quickly and efficiently you see the changes you are after. But more importantly, your attitude about achieving the goal will dictate the enjoyment you glean from the process and certainly how much you enjoy it.  The journey is a major part of the ride, and the steps along the path to the destination will provide stories and memories in the future. Choose to enjoy these slow changes on the way as a part of the process rather than treat them as something you must get through.

Change Your Level of Happiness

If you look at your current life experience and you are not happy with everything about it. Look for ways to inflict enjoyment into your life in all that you do. Change is constant and natural. We are going to change one way or another. Some we do not control, but many we do, and our attitudes toward this change determine the quality of our lives.  Take time to enjoy the changes that are happening, rather than fight against them, flow with them. k

As I stated in the beginning, change will be a part of our life experience from the beginning to the end, and we will move through a process. Experiencing good things and difficult things.  Never despair because of where you are or celebrate too much either. The unstoppable forces of change are working, and things will develop into something else wanted or unwanted soon enough.  Learn to embrace change. If we did not change, then growth would never occur, and what is not growing is going the other way.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi

“Your life does not get better by chance. It gets better by change.” —Jim Rohn

“When in doubt, choose change.” —Lily Leung

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy, for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another.” —Anatole France

 

21

Change is Happening

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Here Comes the Change

Accepting changeThere are many ways change occurs in our lives. Sometimes it is quick and jarring, leaving trauma and drama in its wake. These are the changes that make you consider living a different way. Nothing will ever be the same. But more often, change is like a dripping faucet. As each drop slowly accumulates, you never notice until the thing that once was one way is now totally another.  Change is happening to us all day, and Heraclitus was right; it is one of the constants we can always rely on. All we can do is work on our ability to accept change and make choices to roll with it. 

Getting Better or Getting Worse

Each of us is changing every day, and it is important to take stock of ourselves and where we are in life. Each day we are either getting better, or we are getting worse.  Nobody is staying the same. It is impossible. The movement may be minuscule and hard to see, but you move in one direction or the accepting changeother each day.  That makes it important to know exactly where you are in all areas of your life, physically, spiritually, mentally, or financially so that you can understand your progress.

Each of us makes decisions both large and small, which will dictate your direction. Do I go to the gym or skip today? Do I spend money on that new pair of shoes or not? Do I practice kindness or not? Do I participate in gossip or not? All of these and many more choices are made by you each day, and the only person responsible for them is you. You are in control of your destiny and determine if you are getting better or getting worse.

Accepting Change

Change is so difficult for most of us because we are so attached to our current lives. Even if things are not perfect and things are changing for the better, it is our instinct to resist because deep down, we are afraid that a change may make things worse.  It may not be perfect now, and I may not enjoy my accepting changecircumstances, but at least I can handle them.  Don’t fear the changes that are happening in your life. Let life flow, and it will most often take you to a better place.

If you have a goal and it doesn’t involve your current job, relationship, or the area you live in. You can’t be afraid when life starts moving you in a new direction. All of your dreams and goals will be found by trying something new and accepting the changes that come into your life.  Each new change will teach you a skill and help you become a better, more well-rounded person. Accepting change will allow us to grow. 

Life is full of ups and downs; things will never stay the same, and change is happening every day. Your choices can help dictate the direction of the change that you experience. When the big ones come, a death, the loss of a job, or the ending of a relationship, understand that pain is a part of the process of letting go. It will never be easy because we have attachments to people and situations. Circumstances will come, and they will go, love people as best you can, enjoy each second of all situations because one way or another, it may all be over at any time. 

“The only thing that is constant is change.” ~Heraclitus