Change is Inevitable

“None of us can change our yesterdays, but all of us can change our tomorrows”

~Collin Powell

What is it about change? Most of us cringe and find change to be an unwelcome friend, an annoyance, an irritation, even an interloper into lives we prefer to stay the same.

But change has to happen.

How else do we grow?

How do we know what we are capable of?

How do we know how strong we are?

How resilient?

Maybe it’s not about fearing change. Maybe it’s a mindset and the meaning we associate with it. That’s the culprit. That’s the real issue. Nothing is meant to stay the same.

Tradition challenges this. Tradition teaches us that things do stay the same. But do they really? Yes, tradition is beautiful. It is constant. It is something natural to many of us. Doesn’t tradition change? When we plan the same occasion each year and the players are different, isn’t that change? Who is no longer with us? Are we celebrating in the same place as we always did? Are there new additions to the family? Will there be unexpected guests and new friends to welcome? Will there be a new recipe to add variety to our meal?

Change… Change…. Change

From simple changes to profound life changes, change is all around.

Does change have to be fearful?

Do we have to perceive change as the enemy and an inconvenience that upsets our apple cart?

What if change is a welcome addition and good for us?

What if we could focus our minds and accept change as a teacher that shows us something new, something different, something you’ve never experienced before? Maybe change will bring something that warms your heart, makes you smile and shows you something unexpected and even challenging can be special and wonderful as any tradition you’ve known.

What if change is necessary and needs to be accepted as a part of life and designed for our highest good?

What if change reminds you of what matters and what is really important? Isn’t love what it is all about?

It’s hard to sort through what ifs.  Maybe there is another way of looking at how change manifests in our lives and what to do about it when it arrives.

Change is worth learning to embrace, in small doses, certainly not all at once and not abruptly.

There is not one thing we can do to stop change from happening. We can try. We can delude ourselves into thinking we can control change or ignore it. It doesn’t work.

Change is inevitable.

I don’t have to tell you where to look. Turn on the news. Look at what happens every day. True, most of what is in the news doesn’t affect our immediate worlds, but does it not show you that change is constant?

It’s normal to react negatively when change hits us and we’re not expecting it. Change can bring with it pain, sadness, isolation, hurt, overwhelm, disillusion and it can also bring joy, happiness and unexpected blessings.

Change is bound to happen and we are not meant to control it, stop it or prevent it. Change is a powerful necessity. And change can be our greatest advocate.

We can learn not to fear change but to see it for what it is.

A chance to grow.

A chance to let go of what no longer serves us.

A chance to forgive.

A chance to show love quickly and easily because we lose many people too soon in life and time moves faster and faster.

A chance to begin again.

A chance to dream.

A chance to right wrongs that have caused regret.

A chance to keep moving forward.

A chance to stand strong in your convictions, be who you want to be and who you are in any given moment.

A chance to know all is well and no matter what you are loved and are okay.

Change is inevitable and how we manage it depends upon how we decide to perceive it. I challenge you to see it in a light that is not negative or fearful.