If you don’t like something change it;
if you can’t change it,
change the way you think about it.
Have you ever found yourself in a position where change was inevitable? You may have felt annoyed, frustrated, or even a little afraid about how that part of your life was going to change. Maybe you felt trapped by the fact that the change was going to happen whether you liked it or not.
You might have felt out of sorts or stressed out for days, weeks, or even months. But what if you were to purposely make a slight shift in your usual paradigm of thinking and begin to view change as opportunity? What if you could reach out and embrace change with open arms? How do you do that?
1. Accept the idea. When you get comfortable with the idea that the change is going to happen, it will help you go into it with less stress. John F. Kennedy once said, “The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.” So, change will, in essence, always be occurring. Recognizing and accepting this as a fact of life will make life easier for you.
2. Change implies progress. Whether you are ready to admit it or not, when something changes, it’s progressing toward something, its movement. As you have probably already realized, living life on a day-to-day basis often involves making progress on some level.
3. Embrace the “not knowing.” Recognize that change will introduce some unknowns into your life. The aspect of change that probably shakes you up the most is that it brings in these unknown factors. It can be a bit discombobulating to not know exactly what’s coming your way. Still, the unknown aspect of change must be acknowledged and accepted.
4. Get excited. Be ready to experience the “newness” that change will bring. Alter your thinking from focusing on fear of the unknown to recognizing that change involves “newness.” It involves new things, new people, new places, and new ideas. At least some of this will bring excitement and pique your interest.
5. Believe that change can be transformative. You could be exposed to different and better products, knowledge, and skills as results of the change that you are facing. Many changes also have great aspects that open up your life in ways you could not have imagined before. Your experience at work or home, wherever the change occurs, could be the catalyst that transforms your whole life for the better.
6. More choices. Take notice of the wider array or variety of choices that often accompanies change. Along with change often come more options. A whole new world opens up to you, in a sense. You are in a position to take advantage of new choices.
7. View change as “the spice of life.” There’s an old adage based on something the poet, William Cowper, wrote that states, “Variety is the spice of life.” If you can apply this attitude to how you see change, your whole approach to it will be different.
8. Positive, but honest self-talk. Tell yourself that you can adjust to change. The fact is that you have probably experienced hundreds of changes so far throughout your lifetime. And you have made the adjusted to themst fine. ou have managed to work things out. And, you will be able to adjust to more changes in the future.
If you can shift how you look at changes, you will feel much more comfortable with them. Accepting change, looking at change as progress, recognizing that there will be unknowns, and embracing the newness of change will help you get better prepared for change.
If you can see change as being transformative, notice that it can create new and different choices for you, view it as “the spice of life,” and remind yourself that you have what it takes to adjust to almost anything that happens, you will be able to approach change more positively.
Now, go forward into the next change with an open mind!
Thoughts?
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joiseyshowaa/2775011897/sizes/o/in/photostream/
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