Setting The Stage For Change
Lately I feel stuck. I travel the same roads over and over again. I want change to happen; however it is elusive and I do not see any signs of it ahead.
Change Has Its Own Timing
Change is not within our control. It comes and goes according to events and energies surrounding us, the actions of others and, sometimes, our strong intentions. Change is a teacher that shows up when the student is ready. (Even if the student feels they are far from ready!) We must give up any notion of controlling change; however we can set the stage for when it occurs in our lives.
Some change we anticipate and some we do not. This directly affects the nature of our experience with it. We can recall times we have experienced change in our lives and examine its nature. Was it anticipated? Did it jolt us? Was it welcome? Did it come at a bad or a good time for us? Could we be present to it when it came or did we run away?
How does all this affect our relationship to change? Sometimes we hide from it. Sometimes we fear its unpredictable nature. Sometimes we delude ourselves that we can live in a world without change. Best to accept the presence and unpredictability of change as part of life. Learning to embrace this actually makes us less frightened by change when it comes unannounced.
Change Can Upend Us
In setting the stage for a healthy relationship with change we should be ready for upheaval. The nature of change is to make something or someone different. Change replaces or adds to what was. Being ready for upheaval asks for self-awareness, courage, the ability to center and agency. We can develop these aspects of ourselves to be more ready for change.
The act of upending unsettles us. Parts of us are rearranged. Fear can surface. Movement is a given. We have the opportunity to direct the movement of change with a positive attitude. Carl Jung said, “We cannot change anything until we accept it.” This involves both accepting what was and that change is here. Once we reach acceptance, we can brace for and welcome change.
In some ways, we are never fully prepared for change. That is the nature of our journey and of the hero’s journey. That’s okay – there are still things we can do to prepare. And, each time we experience change we learn more about it. The unknown and upheaval are part of the excitement of change, if we allow ourselves to experience it with curiosity and anticipation.
➟ My New Directions Coaching Program gives you what you need to thrive in a time of change.
How To Be Ready For Change
Change is an individual experience influenced by our emotions, sense of confidence, inner strength and sense of adventure. We can be ready for change by acknowledging its existence in our lives. We can study the nature of change and look back at the changes we have experienced in our lives. We can build the skills we need to both weather and thrive in change.
Change has varying degrees of difficulty for different people. Discomfort with change is not a vice; it is a consideration in assessing how to handle change. If we have discomfort with change, we can create ways to lessen its negative impacts. Some do this by having strong, supportive relationships with others. Some assure their financial security in anticipation of an unwelcome change.
Change can be foisted on us by others. We cannot anticipate all that others may do. We can assess the risks involved in choices we make and prepare for them. We can make choices that allow us to grow at the pace we are comfortable with – for some step-by-step, for others in leaps. We can be cognizant of the people and situations we allow into our lives. This is not hiding from change, but managing it.
Inviting Change
Some invite change regularly into their lives. They seem to thrive in its upheaval, adventure and stimulation. No matter what our degree of comfort is with change, it can be invited into our lives. Doing so, gives us an upper hand. We create the stage.
I am beginning to realize that change is a natural and recurring element of my life. If I know it will come, I can prepare for it. This gives me comfort that, in the future, I will handle change as best I can.
photo: janeb13, pixabay.com
Coaching for a New Era!
Find out how you can make the most of these times!
Sign Up Today for a Complimentary Call
MORE OPENINGS
Pushing Through Openings
Openings As Endings
Perspective
Archives