Spring is in the air, new life is awakening all around us as the earth gives way to the birth of its offspring as the dead of a cold, bleak winter melts away. But we can’t bask in the glory of this new birth too long because Summer will soon be here with its luminous rays of sun and sweltering heat that will be chased away by the welcome crisp winds of Fall. Those once freshly bloomed leaves will change into a beautiful array of colors before departing their life support as winter storms arrive. This sequence of seasons stays the same but the seasons themselves constantly change.
Oftentimes in our lives we become rattled by change and get thrown off balance. A shift in our job, finances, health, schedules, and other things can cause us a lot of anxiety and worry. While it is true that change can be uncomfortable, it is also true that change is natural. Change is constant. As the season changes we accept it and many times welcome it. We may not know exactly how a season will turn out but we have an idea of what each season will bring because of past experience. We prepare ourselves the best that we can and in turn we take the anxiety out the change that is associated with the changing seasons.
I invite you to look at your life in the same manner. Although you don’t exactly know what’s coming around the corner, you get signs and tidbits along the way. A shift in a job usually isn’t so abrupt that there were no warning signs or indicators, a health report from a doctor usually don’t come before the slightest symptoms have appeared, and life’s challenges usually don’t happen without some forewarning along the way. Yes. There are always exceptions to the rules and sometimes things just blindside us. However, the key to taking the sting out of change is to prepare, and in order to prepare we must be aware. Being aware is simply taking time, slowing down and paying attention to the small things; life’s indicators tells us that things are starting to shift a little and things aren’t exactly the same. At the appearance of these indicators try to anticipate and prepare for your next move.
Here are 3 tips to assist you in handling change:
- Strive to be flexible and open-minded. Don’t be so rigid that you can’t adapt to situations that present themselves to you. By being open-minded you’ll be able to see new ways of doing things and will be able to embrace change quicker.
- Access the situation with a positive mindset. When facing a new situation, look for the positive and ignore that voice of discomfort and negativity. Don’t look at why it won’t work, why it happened, or why at all. But look how this fit into the grand scheme of things and how things can be better as result of it.
- Find peace in the situation. One of the hardest things about change is the discomfort that comes with the unknown. Being in an unfamiliar space can be unsettling but you must strive to find a place contentment in whatever situation that you may find yourself in. This type of contentment is peace; resolve. Look at the change and ask yourself if you can control it, if you have the power to alter the change that’s being presented to you. If the answer is yes, and you can’t see any benefit in the change, then enact your power and become the change agent. Don’t allow yourself to be forced into a change, but you be the change. However, if the answer is no (you have no control over the change), then find a way to make the change manageable; embrace the change.
When life presents you changes remember to truly access the situation with an open-mind. Strive to embrace the change, one baby step at a time, and you’ll be surprised by how fast you’ll be up and running.