Change. I’m not talking about the jingle in your pocket.

Change is the stuff from which life is made. Change is personal growth and life experiences. It happens whether we like it or not—ready or not—here change comes!

All living systems—people, animals, plants, micro-organisms—even ecosystems like sunlight, temperature, water, air, wind, rocks, and soil go through change. As such, change begins the moment we are born into this world. Change happens everyday. The misnomer about change is that it takes true grit to go through the process. Not true! But, it is true if you say it is true.

Then why does change often seem scary? People are probably the only sentient beings to attach fear to change (if you believe it to be true, then it is; it’s called: perspective) and we tend to fear change because it is the unknown. The state of known gives us a comfort, even if the current state is unpleasant, many people tell me “at least I know it.”  Change, though, means something different is happening or is about to happen, although change is usually a process and not a sudden event.

In a nutshell, what I am saying about change is that how we adapt to it, how we flow through this constant process depends upon one’s perspective. If you perceive it to be true grit, then it is. If you label change as horrific, then it is. If you assign “fear” to change, then it is scary. If you look at change as “something I don’t do well,” then you don’t do it well.

So where to go from here in the story of change…

Identify your perspective about change, and if it’s negative, shift it to be more positive.

Is shifting perspective from negative (fearful) to positive an easy process? No. It takes practice and determination and more practice. Throw in a good measure of time and the shift gradually happens.

Is it worth it? I know the value I find it…let me know what you think.

“Change” author Mina Thevenin, LCSW.                                                                                                                                                                                        Private practice office in Louisville, KY   Office (502) 814-3721