Everything changes in our life. Some of us have daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly changes; but we all have experienced change at some point of our lives. Many of us view change as either good or bad; however, our perception is what leads to our views of good or bad change. The key is to understand that change is inevitable in regards to growth, maturity, and experience.
Many people are afraid of change. They prefer routine and stability, and, with any kind of transition this change disrupts self-confidence. Fear inhibits people from taking risks. When fear relates to a positive change, it usually is linked to a fear of not being able to achieve success. Some are overly concerned about not being capable “enough” or of being judged, as if, dignity is only measured by their concept of success or winning.
People have the freedom to change the way they think about a situation whenever they learn something new about the topic. Whether the change in thinking is effortless or not, depends upon ones’ ability to being open to the idea of learning something new, despite opposing thoughts on the subject. This concept may appear confusing, but people have to be open to learning something new about the topic, which in turn will change thinking.
Challenging feelings can be extremely difficult, especially when adapting to change or a life transition, in comparison to changing thoughts and beliefs. Feeling states accumulate over a lifetime of experience, and, trying to change a feeling can seem like it is going against everything the person has ever believed in life. They have convinced themselves that what they feel is reasonable and must be a necessary part of life. We all have met someone who is chronically afraid, angry or sad, and characterize them in this way because their constant unpleasant mood states can be observed in most of their actions and behaviors. Negative feelings are the cumulative effects of experiences in life, and, the challenge is to accumulate new positive events to offset the negative. Because it takes time and effort to change these feelings people need to become open to the idea of wanting new, positive experiences and then invite them into their lives. These individuals must give themselves permission to allow these positive experiences to enhance their life. It is possible to change beliefs and thoughts with information and teaching; however, it is hard to change a feeling state without professional assistance.
Please understand that for something new to happen in life there is something lost. Welcoming change means accepting the blunders that are made along the way. People who do not allow themselves to make mistakes, will not be able to adapt well with life transitions, and will not be able to enjoy living life to its fullest extent. What is certain is that all of us are going to be forced to adapt to change throughout life, as transitions are a guarantee, until the day we die. People have the internal ability to gain that sense of control of life’s changes because of having the choice to learn different ways of coping.
“And the day came when the risk to remain the same was greater than the risk to change…It is, after all, the only hope for the cocoon to become the butterfly.” -Proverb