Change

The last few weeks, I’ve really noticed how hesitant people are to make a change in their lives. So many colleagues, friends, and even family members are frustrated by their day to day but they don’t want to do anything different. I keep wondering why? Why not rip off the bandaid and step forward into the unknown?

My guess is that it’s fear based. That doing something new or different is always scary. What if you get a different outcome than you did with your old way of doing things? What if you fail? What if you make less money? What if someone judges you for doing things a different way? It’s all fear and shame and it serves no purpose other than to cripple you. 

Change is after all, inevitable. You will never be in the same job, relationship, place, home, etc. for your entire life. Things change fast and often without input from you. What if we started embracing those changes instead of fearing them? Regardless of whether they are self-imposed or a result of others. What if we considered the upside of change? 

We have to get uncomfortable to grow. Through change, we are pushed outside our comfort zone. Especially when that change is unforeseen. We learn new things about ourselves in different environments and after working with different people. We may realize that we prefer one thing or one person to another. We might even learn what we need from a particular area of life. 

I love change because I love learning. I can do something different and whether it works or not, I will learn something. I will learn about myself, about a strength, a weakness, maybe an opportunity for improvement. I have never regretted a move, a job change, a breakup. Some of them really sucked at the time but I learned from every single one. I came out the other side with a new awareness about who I am and what I need from my life. Change is not scary. Change is growth. 

The perfect example is this pandemic. We were all forced to do things differently - we had to slow down, work from home, wear masks, and live more isolated. It was a miserable experience for a lot of us but I think we’ve learned more than we appreciate. I learned that I like being at home. I’m more introverted than I realized. I learned that I prefer working remotely, that driving really eats into my time. I learned that I enjoy gardening and being outside. I like to plant pretty things and watch them grow. I learned that life is extraordinarily precious and that finding joy in the day to day is more critical than anything else. 

Put your fear of change away. Embrace the new and different. It may not work out but maybe it does? Maybe you learn more about yourself than you ever have in the past. Maybe you become a better person as a result of the change. I bet you will and I bet you’ll reconsider your thought process on change too. If you’re feeling the pull towards change, you know where to find me.