Who isn't afraid of change?
True, some of us have more fear of instability than others. But when you really get down to it, we are all shaken up when the movement inherent to change occurs. Whether there is enormous change in the works, like one's entire life turning upside down, or smaller, more bite-size, and manageable change afloat, it is always disconcerting. Funnily enough, all these incessant shifts are what actually lay down the foundations of our lives, from one transitory brick to the next.
The problem is, we give change so much power and weight, like change itself is an enormous heft of an individual, a full-bodied bully and daunting adversary, who comes about to ruin things as they are, to mess us up, unnerve us, make us feel helpless or no good simply because it isn't familiar.
But what if we were to turn our thinking and feeling about change around? Is it possible to watch these shifts in awe, whether vied for or unforeseen, and stay wondrous in the middle of it all? What if that bully were to become a warm and beckoning friend, appearing to help us grow and evolve, as we are always microscopically doing anyways, despite our resistance to it?
Opportunities for change stream in and around us at every instant. Wouldn't it be novel to think about smiling at and welcoming in these new ways of being, without getting ruffled by them? To simply contemplate living in this way is in itself a change.
Here's a tiny example: We all have a go-to restaurant, where we always order the same thing week after week. And we have all experienced the beauty of, for whatever reason, deciding one day to deviate and order something new. When we have gone ahead and taken that risk, and as a result have had a surprisingly revelatory meal, we have experienced on that particular occasion an opening to change, and we have been equally rewarded with the thrill of its fulfillment.
Now, imagine transferring this little taste of change to a much deeper shift on your horizon, like transforming your body, reworking your career, or breaking an excruciatingly tenacious habit. Don't do it from a place of control from which you have so desperately and zealously spun all your forced resolutions ahead of time.
Instead, do it from a place of presence, receptivity, and wonder. When you allow yourself to ride the essential rhythm of profound change in this way, you open yourself to the exuberance that pulsates so sweetly right in the center of it.
Please, this year, give it a try. Go ahead. Allow for change. It is the safest and surest thing you can do in your life; it is in fact the most natural thing in the world.
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