Four Great Steps To Embrace Change

In theory, most people love change: a new house, a new car or a new pair of designer shoes make just about everyone happier. In reality, however, change is often something that strikes a certain fear in many. A new house is great, but a new house in a new city or a new state is scary.  A new car is always fun, but a new car that comes from a lifestyle change, such as having a baby or adopting children is scary. A new pair of shoes, well, those are always amazing and nothing can change that. Change is necessary in every person’s life, but it can be scary and intimidating. Learning how to embrace the changes that will occur in your life will make it easier for you to accept new ventures, and it will even help you to celebrate them.

Take Some Time

When life changes, whether you want it to or not, you need to take a few minutes to sit quietly and not react. Your first impulse when you find out your husband’s job is transferring him to a country where English is not the spoken language is to research the best neighborhoods and schools, and to figure out where you can learn the new language. Instead of jumping into your new venture without taking time to accept it, accept it first and then jump into your plans. This gives you the inner peace to know that you have accepted this change, and the ability to face it with excitement.

Ignore your Intelligence

Everyone has an inner voice that just knows everything. You are a smart person who knows many things, but sometimes you need to turn that voice down and ignore it. Smart people are very firm in their beliefs and that makes it difficult for you to persuade yourself that you like something you are unfamiliar with. When your life is flipped over onto its side, whether for the good or the bad, you need to let go of your know-it-all attitude and open yourself up to learning a new way of adapting.

Try Something New

This may sound a little pointless, since change means that there is a lot of something new coming your way, but it works. If you lose your job, or you are moving somewhere unfamiliar, try something you never thought you’d do. Enroll in classes for something that’s always interested you, but that you never thought you could do. Sign up for the junior league in your new city and start volunteering to make the city a better place. Anytime you try something new you are opening up your mind to new possibilities, making new friends or just learning that you absolutely do not like this new activity. Either way, you’ve learned something about yourself and you’ve proven to your know-it-all mind that you can embrace change and that you can make it through anything.

Know that Common Knowledge isn’t all it’s Cracked Up to Be

Everyone has common knowledge. It’s common knowledge that you cannot drive a car that does not have tires attached to it. It is common knowledge that men cannot get pregnant. It is common knowledge that chocolate is the cure for anything – well, it should be, anyway. You may know that you need a college education to get a great job, but sometimes you need to ignore that common knowledge and think outside the box. Sure, you may need a degree to get a job doing what you love, but you don’t need one to open that bakery you’ve always dreamt of owning, or to write the book you just know will be a New York Times Best Seller. Sometimes, ignoring what you know and making new rules is the best way to embrace change.

Change is inevitable. You cannot avoid it, no matter how much you try. The only thing you can do is embrace the changes in your life, even if they initially appear to be bad changes. Everything has a way of working itself out in the long run, and you can make the long run shorter if you are willing to embrace what you have to work with and make it happen.