Change is inevitable. Look at your hobbies, friends, clothes, taste in music, TV shows, family, and career. Many of those things have changed. The people around you have changed. The political horizon has changed. There’s change everywhere. 2020 was a real year of intense change for most people around the globe!
Change can bring fear, doubt, and uncertainty. However, it’s not helpful to view change negatively. In order to survive, it’s necessary to adapt to change.
There are new experiences and understandings to be gained as a result of the changes in your life. If you never changed, you’d still be playing in the sandbox at the playground and eating dirt.
If you’re finding it difficult to embrace changes in your life, using these strategies can help:
1. Understand that life is always changing. Life is change. Life is always evolving. It’s the very nature of life. Think about how much you’ve changed since you were an infant.
● Your body and view of the world have changed considerably over the years. Change is a natural part of life.
2. See change as a positive thing. Imagine how bored you would be if nothing ever changed.
● Change expands your comfort zone.
● Change provides opportunities.
● Change provides new experiences.
● Dealing with change teaches you about yourself.
3. See the opportunities that this change provides. There are positive aspects to the changes you’re currently facing in your life. You just have to look for them.
● For example, losing a job provides many opportunities. You can change careers. Find a better company. Find a better paying job. Get away from that annoying coworker. Move someplace new. You’ll have more free time for a while to spend on your family and hobbies.
● A divorce can be traumatic, but it also brings new opportunities. You can find a more suitable partner. You can move to a new house. You have more control over your free time. You can put a challenging relationship behind you.
4. Imagine a positive outcome. It’s easier to deal with change if you can visualize a positive outcome. See a compelling picture in your mind. When you feel stressed, go back to that picture. A positive expectation for the future can be motivating.
5. Pay attention to what you can control. Any situation that involves change has elements that can be controlled and others that cannot be controlled. You can control your attitude, decisions, actions, and usually several other things. There are also elements beyond your control.
● It’s important to spend your time and energy on the things you can control.
● Focusing on the things you can’t control can leave you feeling depressed and powerless.
6. Change makes you stronger. The organisms that have survived the most successfully are those that are best able to adapt. Organisms that can’t adapt become extinct. Humans are excellent at adapting. They just don’t like to do it! Every change you overcome makes you a stronger person.
7. What other options do you have besides making the best of it? Chances are, they will all involve some type of change too. Many times, you can choose which change you want, and you can take action to make it happen.
Most people avoid or fight change when it occurs, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Change can bring amazing opportunities!
Change is all around you. Change brings you new ideas, people, and experiences. Life is too short to live the same day over and over. Be grateful for the changes happening in your life. You might be on the path to something new and wonderful.
