Embracing Change Keeps You Feeling Alive

It's so easy to get used to things as they are - even when they aren't working for you. That old pair of shoes may be falling apart but you prefer them to the new ones you just bought because they pinch a little. But you know if you wear them once or twice they will fit just fine.

Change means moving from your comfort zone into the unknown.

While change brings opportunities for new experiences and growth it also brings the possibility of failure or disappointment. Change can be invigorating and challenging or frightening. No matter what wonderful possibilities may exist it's the fear and the uncertainty that holds you back from taking the risk, no matter how small, of trying things a new way or going in a new direction.

The reality is that all living things are constantly changing.

Most changes can't be controlled. You will age every day. And so will the people around you. That's why you may be wildly in love when you marry and a few years down the road wonder how you've drifted apart. We change without being aware and then find ourselves suddenly different. That's when couples find themselves in a counselor's office trying to figure out when they lost each other and how to get back.

An open mind and a willingness to change might have prevented that.

After you marry both parties continue to grow and have life experiences separate from each other. If you share those experiences, listen to each other and remain interested, you can grow together. If you stop talking or stop listening you grow apart. It happens slowly until one day it seems as though there is a mountain between you and you can't figure out how it got there.

It's easier to accept changes in our children.

We expect them to change. We look forward to their maturing and developing. We see their changing as essential. We watch them change physically and mentally and socially and encourage them every step of the way. So when does change lose it positive impetus and become something to fear? When do you step away from the joy once found in change and growth and see it as a risk? The answer is different for everyone but usually involves the awareness that you have something to lose. And you don't want to lose what you have even if the possibility of having much more exists. You become invested in what is rather then what could be. You stop growing. Your life becomes stagnant. You become boring.

There are never any guarantees in life.

Sometimes the things we try work out and sometimes they don't. But before you turn away from the opportunity to try something new or to take a risk to do something in a different way ask yourself what the downside would be if it didn't work out. You may be surprised to see that the positive far outweighs the negative and that not succeeding may only mean you've gained nothing and lost nothing.

You and the world around you are changing constantly.

Either you stay aware of the changes or they will sneak up and surprise you. But they are going to happen. Stagnation leaves you old and tired. Change keeps you vital and enthusiastic about life. Take the chance and dare to welcome change. You will be a far happier person when you lose that fear and live life to the fullest.