Change; it’s such a small, simple, and seemingly insignificant word. However, it is more than a mere word. It is a nebulous, grand word, charged with power equivalent to the union of a sperm and egg, or an atomic bomb. And it is more than a word, no matter its significance. It is a beautiful idea.
This idea is organic, it’s alive, it’s provocative and evocative, it engages and acts upon, and it is equally acted upon. Change is impact actualized, made substantive, formulated and made material. Change changes things, people, places, events, circumstances and conditions, and it is also further changed by its own action, inertia and momentum. Today’s change is laden and pregnant with tomorrow’s change, and the cycle is endless.
The multi-verse, and all of its ancillary and constituent parts, is incessantly active in this process. Change is inevitable. It is not reliant upon agreement or cooperation. It is simple movement without cognition, or discrimination, or bias. It is because it must be, and it is perfect in essence.
What’s difficult in change is our human, emotional interpretation of it. We process change through an interesting personification of sorts. We judge, criticize, blame, vilify and resist it with great discrimination and prejudice. We often accept its influence, action, or inaction in our lives with a desperate sense of victimization. We believe change acts upon us without our direct involvement or participation. While change is happening we cannot deny our role in its unfolding.
Change, by definition, is quite complex. It covers a great many contexts. It is defined by Webster’s dictionary as: 1a: to make different in some particular: alter; b. to make radically different: transform; c. to give a different position, course, or direction to; 2a: to replace with another; b. to make a shift from one to another: switch; c. to exchange for an equivalent sum of money; d. to undergo a modification; e. to put fresh clothes or covering on; 3. To become different; 4. To pass from one phase to another; 5. To shift one’s means of conveyance: transfer; 6. To undergo transformation, transition, or substitution.
As I catch my breath from that lengthy mouth full; maybe you can now see why so many are perplexed, perhaps even afraid of the prospect of change. It can seem a bit daunting! So here are a few tips to aid you in the process of embracing change.
- Don’t Resist the Inevitable: Change is happening at all times, whether we agree with it, desire it, expect it, anticipate it, or not. It isn’t awaiting our approval or permission. It is all part of the universal order of things. Therefore, it’s most reasonable for us to embrace it, work with it, maybe even with joy because resistance to it only proves hurtful. No creams, potions, diets, people, or places can thwart the inevitability of change. In letting go of our resistance to it, we then can have the time, energy, and resources to work with it towards the ends we most desire and intend. If we act upon change, in a way that harmonizes with our intentions, as change is acting upon us, we’ll inevitably create the appropriate conditions and synergy that can translate into our most favorable ends.
- Don’t Brand Change: Many of us make the common mistake of branding change, setting defining labels upon it. This is a catastrophic error in judgment. When we spend our time labeling the changes we’re experiencing as “good” or “bad”, we unwittingly move into an emotional disposition in relation to them. When we make this emotional shift we indirectly fuel the otherwise unbiased, indiscriminate process of change to rage as an inferno, devouring our mental and emotional real estate. To briefly examine the madness of branding change; let’s take the change of aging as an example. While in our youth, many of us can’t wait to be older. Then, when we realize the hope of our youth and become older, we then want to be younger. Some lie about being older as a youth, only to lie about being younger when old. It becomes a most self-defeating miscalculation. Change is just a necessary and essential element in the cycle of life. In truth, because we are not infinite beings, with all knowledge and wisdom, we must presume to allow change to take its natural course. There were a number of things I perceived as good decades ago that I now perceive quite differently, and the converse is equally as true. In letting go of my propensity towards or need for labeling change, I now enjoy the power of clarity and the increased time and energy to cultivate who I intend to be in each new moment of my life. That too, is ever changing, and what a wonderful process it is.
- See Change as Purposeful: Change is not arbitrary. All of life is interdependent upon other forms of life. In this mesmerizing waltz, we find the beauty of an ever perfecting ascension in all life. We see, in the exchange of life and death, the glorious transition of life to death and then death to life. Life expands and expends itself unto an eventual death; then, death renews into life again. In nature, there could be no death without there first being life; and there could be no life without the counter-offering of death. So change is purposeful and its purpose is eternal renewal and support. In beginnings there is power, energy, and force. In endings there is experience, wisdom, and clarity. In the new lies the intrinsic possibility for the destruction of the old and in the old is the worn, polished result of the new. Without the purposeful process of change the world, the multi-verse, and all forms of life would be no more. For where there is no change, there is no progress. Where there is no progress, there is no renewal. And where there is no renewal, there is no life.
- Don’t Fear Change: Many people fear change because they believe, whether consciously or sub-consciously, change excludes them. We frequently choose to experience change as a judgment of us. We can be quite selfish at times. I don’t intend to project onto any of my readers, so just know I’m referring to me. In the past, I came to grips with my fear of change in relationships and career. I feared change would happen and I wouldn’t fit in the new scheme of things. I feared I wouldn’t be as relevant in the new. I came to the realization, this was a possibility, but only if I resisted personal change in the process of changes taking place around me. Therefore, I embraced the need for a personal commitment to becoming my highest, most informed, most pliable, most enlightened, authentic self. In doing so, I’ve never had to fear change again. Transformation is powerful. It boils down to appearance verses nature, or character verses reputation. In becoming our authentic self, we become indispensable in the right place. But, if we’re more concerned with appearing competent, or ready, or equipped than actually being these things, we’ll be exposed and excluded by the natural process of disqualification. If we allow our thinking to be transformed our lives, loves, work, environment, and conditions will be renewed. My future is brighter because of my personal commitment to practicing some simple disciplines every day, and by doing so, I’m getting better and better. The better we get, the more we’ll be invited into the arenas from which we may have feared we could be excluded.
- Change Can Be Scary and Exciting: Our vantage points are important here. For some change can most certainly be horrifying. For others change is a wild and fabulously exhilarating ride. How could there be such disparity between the two points of view? It’s easy! If we’ve been stale, sitting stagnate in the illusion of comfort, which is just another way of saying settling for mediocrity; then change can be overwhelming. But, if we’ve been fully engaged in life, always testing our former limits to shed the old cloaks of limitation, self-doubt, and a gross lack of discipline; then we are always looking forward to the challenges of change. We get excited about the countless possibilities that are inherent in change. We presume favorable outcomes and results. So, we anticipate the other side of change with joyous expectation. If we haven’t been committed to becoming much, then we presume hardship, failure, and disappointment on the other side of change. One of my remote teachers once said; “Don’t pray for less problems; pray for more wisdom.” Life will give us what we truly expect. So, decide today and get crystal clear on what it is you expect. The ancient, timeless wisdom of the Bible says it this way; “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Consider not just what you think, but how you think. Consider what you rehearse in your thoughts. Our lives are but reflections of the canvases that hang upon the walls of our minds.
Change in life is inevitable. Rather than fear or try to avoid it, our best course of action is to accept it, meet it head on and allow it to be a positive, constructive force in our lives.
