Time for Change

How easily we get frustrated when things don’t go according to plan? How easily do we shy away from change forgetting that change is the one and only constant in life?

A long time ago, I wrote and presented a course on personal change and the following is some explanations for change that I found whilst researching content for the course. “Change is something that presses us out of our comfort zone. It is destiny-filtered, heart grown, faith built. Change is inequitable; not a respecter of persons. Change is for the better or for the worst, depending on where you view it. Change has an adjustment period which varies on the individual. It is uncomfortable, for changing from one state to the next upsets our control over outcomes. Change has a ripping effect on those who won’t let go. Flex is the key. Even a roller coaster ride can be fun if you know when to lean and create new balance. Change is needed when all the props and practices of the past no longer work. Change is not comforted by the statement ‘just hang in there’ but with the statement ‘you can make it’. We don’t grow in retreat, but through endurance. Change isn’t fixed by crying, worrying, or mental tread-milling. Change is won by victors not victims; and that choice is ours.

Change is awkward – at first. Change is a muscle that develops to abundantly enjoy the dynamics of the life set before us. Change pushes you to do your personal best. Change draws out those poised for a new way. Change isn’t for chickens. Change does have casualties of those defeated. Change will cause us to churn or to learn. Change is more fun to do than to be done to. Change seeks a better place at the end and is complete when you realize you are different.

Change is measured by its impact on all who are connected to it. Change is charged when you are dissatisfied with where you are. Change doesn’t look for a resting-place; just the next launching point. Change is only a waste to those who don’t learn from it. Change happens in the heart before it is proclaimed by our works. If you can change before you have to change, there will be less pain. Change can flow or jerk, depending on our resistance to it. Change uses the power invested in the unseen to reinvent what is seen. Change is like driving in a fog – you can’t see very far, but you can make the whole trip that way.

Change is here to stay.”

Certainly a lot of descriptions for one single word, and all positive if you really think about it. Change is the one inevitable thing that is going to happen to us all whether it is brought about through our own free will and a conscious choice or whether it is ‘forced’ upon us by the universe through the people and circumstances around us. I am so reminded of the Serenity Prayer here – a prayer that we should say every morning when we rise and every night when we go to bed :

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Simple, short and to the point! And I think that if we can live by these words and be consciously aware of focusing our attention on the things that we can change and not handing our power over to those that we cannot. It’s really all about picking your battles wisely and deciding where you want your energy to flow. Resistance to change is absolutely futile – it will happen whether you go with it or you push against it. I truly believe that it’s best to just allow yourself to go with the flow and that’s not to say just accept your circumstances and see yourself as a victim. But rather be excited about the future and what that future is going to bring. Sometimes we can totally control it and sometimes we just have to trust that whatever will happen, will be and know that through God’s grace – all will be good and all will be okay.

Remember that anything that we set out to do, with conscious and positive intent is possible to bring into existence. Trust means “To Release Unto Spirit Totally” and that’s what we need to do. Because we know that without doubt, when we do, everything will always be as it should.