“There is no change without disruption.”
It’s a phrase I’ve heard before, and in my experience it’s mostly proven true. Managing change is not always easy. A change may come whether we want it to or not, and it can really shake us. One minute we knew where we are, the next, everything’s up in the air and not how it used to be.
It’s okay if change rattles you and leaves you feeling like the ground you’re on isn’t so stable anymore. It’s not pleasant by any means, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to me all the time.
Whether it’s a new diagnosis, a change in symptoms, or people around you going through their own changes. Even a shift in the weather can bring its own disruptions. The thing is that we often can’t stop these things happening. Half the time we don’t even see them coming.
But that doesn’t mean we’re helpless, even if we feel we are, and that’s important to remember.
Disruption can come and throw us off guard, but what we do from there can make the difference.
We can choose. We can embrace the change.
To be clear, I’m not talking about pretending everything’s A-Okay when it really, really isn’t. I’m talking about claiming what we have and using that to manage the changes on our own terms.
If we refuse what’s happening, it’s hard to be prepared. It’s hard to make decisions when we’re constantly resisting any disruption. It puts us on the back foot and it can give us the constant feeling that the change is happening ‘to’ us.
Grab a hold of that change. Claim it as yours, even if you don’t want it. (click to tweet)
To embrace change is to put power back in your court. Whatever is going to be different from now on, it can be on your terms. By claiming a situation as your own, you’re not necessarily taking responsibility for it happening, but you are putting yourself in a much better position to affect the outcome.
As great as it would be to take back time and reverse the change (Oh, if real life had an ‘Undo’ button!), by embracing what’s happening, we’re deciding to take whatever comes and handle it our way. Working with whatever shifts we’re going through can free up all the energy we’d otherwise use trying to fight them.
It may not be ideal, it may not be appealing, but it’s something we can do that can make all the difference.
If the change effecting you means you have to start taking new medication, you can choose to either take it grudgingly, scowling at the medicine bottle and complaining about the taste. Or you can choose to fit the medicine into your routine (as much as possible), give it your own name (“I need to drink my super-juice”) and buy yourself a shot glass to take it in (Drink it. Slam it. Cheer!).
If you find yourself reluctantly in a new environment, the whole thing can become easier if you claim your space within it. Treat what you can as yours and set up your boundaries. Redecorate, even just temporarily. Find something in your new environment that you like and aim to appreciate the good aspects of it that you’ve gained, rather than focussing on all the great things you may have lost.
Let the situation happen on your terms, embrace the change and claim the power that goes with it.
– Linus, Healing Boxes CIC co-founder.
Photo Credit: [Smalley Photography] via Compfight cc