Rolling with change is tough to do for most people, but if you do, you can take solace in the fact that you’re living a fulfilling life. How you cope or embrace change says a lot about who you are. If you stiffen, brace yourself, and have to get dragged in a new direction, this might be a sign that you have a ways to go in your human journey. You might have some more work to do.
Change is inevitable and not only inevitable, it is constant. Change comes with wave after wave after wave and thank God it does, otherwise we would make so little progress as a people. Change is coming quicker now, probably because there are over a seven billion of us, connected to one another through the world wide web, which means we can make immediate impact, which once took the homing pigeon several flights to accomplish.
Never fear change. You’ll probably never fully like it, as we do like things to be predictable and normal, but you should never fear it. Once those initial feelings fade away somewhat, you need to see the possibilities in stead of the cost of doing something different.
I do my work on the laptop. I started on a typewriter, moved to a desktop for many years and today the laptop I’m using to type this is an indispensable tool for my writing. It took a lot of change to get here. I traded in the comfort of home to writing in different coffee shops and took on the added cost of paying for coffee and buying the odd treat here and there. I had to change and change is good. If I didn’t embrace change, then I would not be capable of writing every day. If I had to wait til I got home after working all day, I would be too tired, or too whatever to get at it. But I have no excuses. I have the ability to write anywhere and as much as my heart desires.
The internet has also changed things. I’m no longer on my own. I publish ever piece of writing I finish on my website for anyone to find and enjoy. There are no publishing costs, other than the time involved and the minimal fees to keep the site up. All this is because of change.
Make change work for you. Anything can happen at any time. You can be stuck in traffic, have extra work dumped on you, your bank account can be frozen, or you might forget to bring something. Get creative. Every time life changes things for you, try to think of what possibilities this unforeseen, and unwarranted disruption can provide for you.
If you lose power during a storm, perhaps instead of freaking out, that might be a good time, to relax and mediate. Maybe go and help a neighbour. Engage people in a human way, instead of spending the next few hours in frustration and fear, until the lights ultimately come back on.
Rolling with change is not easy, but it can become a habit. You can turn it into a little game you play and wait for your opportunities to think and be different. You can use the many things that demand change in your life to stay committed to your dreams. You might even prepare yourself better so that when life taps you on the shoulders and wants you to go in a different direction, you can make an easier transition, or do a bit less bracing and dragging of your feet.
Cover photo generously provided by photographer Ross Findon via unsplash.com
