Embracing change

“Our painful experiences can and will serve as trampolines, launching us into our next level in life.”  

It’s funny how life-changing events never appear to be life-changing whilst you’re going through them. You take each day at a time, learn new information, make or change opinions, alter your perspective, react to events, make small but specific decisions, one at a time.

Then, flash-forward, and you’re looking back, and you can’t believe how much has changed. The wonderful gift of hindsight makes you go “wow, what a crazy year it’s been. Look how different things were, only 12 months ago.” 

Change can seem scary before we make it. It seems incremental as we go through it. It seems colossal once we’re through the other side. We often delay change, sometimes for years, because we’re scared of it: scared of the unknown, of the what-ifs. But in truth, change is the only thing that allows us to grow.

Comfort zones are safe and predictable. There is a time in all of our lives for them… and there are also many times in our lives that are meant for pushing out of them.

Change begins with a realisation. Often, this realisation is a difficult one. You know things can’t carry on as they have done, that you can’t carry on as you have done, and you know you’re the one responsible for making a shift. Going through change often brings with it emotions we’d rather choose not to feel: nervousness, disappointment, anticipation, anger, fear, hurt, sadness, grief, discomfort. Ignoring the opportunity to change and choosing not to face these emotions is often the reason that we keep things as they are, even at our own detriment.

But by facing and feeling those emotions and responding to them, we unlock the opportunity to feel new, better, positive emotions: elation, pride, gratitude, accomplishment, excitement, inspiration. Through change, we learn more. We open ourselves up to new ways of thinking. We experience incredible new experiences; better than the ones we’ve had before. We develop more informed patterns of thinking and expand our knowledge, creating more opportunities for even more impactful change in the future.

Change is often difficult and scary. It can often seem out of reach. But remember, change begins with a realisation. Once you know things need to change, you’ve already started the process.