Mostly, I like things to remain the same. A creature of habit, I am. I like the predictable in my own everyday goings of things.
But as much as I, or anyone like me, enjoys a steady diet of the status quo, we are forever reminded that things are in a constant state of change.
The truth is, we experience ongoing change in our lives. And as such, we have the ability to control our responses to those changes. Our reactions, and our actions.
Reordering, reshaping, reshuffling. All this transformation affects our lives from the moment we are born until the moment we take our leave. It is a Universal truth.
There are times along the way when change, and all that comes with it, is a source of extraordinary joy. But on the other side, the more often side, these things of change can elicit feelings of discomfort, fear, or pain. Anxiety.
I am the poster child for those who have the need for stability. But we often see many changes that are unavoidable. And, I think truly, it is our response to those circumstances that dictate the nature of our experiences. I marvel at those people who have the “water rolling off their backs” ability. It seems they can recognize that, at the heart of every transformation, there is substance. There is some part of the experience that holds significance and meaning. And, when we no longer resist change, that “importance” can take hold. An opportunity to grow, if you will.
When I was a kid, there was some poem that my dad used to recite around the house that talked about becoming “masters of our own destinies” or something along those lines. I think that becomes true when we are able to make change work in our favor.
In these situations, existence as we know it comes to an end. A different way begins at all different points in our lives. A good example is when our country shifts to a new presidential leader with new direction. Or. The altered way of life when facing the pandemic. It is shifting again. It forces us to make way for some new, and perhaps unexpected, mode of being.
The fact is, the “change,” the transformation, will take place whether or not we want it to.
And if we want to grow from this, it is up to us to decide whether we will open our eyes to the potential blessings which might come. Or, conversely, we can choose to close ourselves off from those opportunities. Maybe the time isn’t right for growth, but instead, for retraction. I don’t know.
But mostly, I think, we should ask ourselves how we can benefit from the transformation that has taken place. Change can be very hard, especially when it first comes near us. But, if we keep or heads about us and look for its lesson, we may very well undergo a worthwhile shift. Be it physically, spiritually, and mentally. Like the moon, giving way, to the sun.
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“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
― George Bernard Shaw
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“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
― Buckminster Fuller
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“You cannot change what you are, only what you do.”
― Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
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Giving way, leaning in, and letting it change.
