The issue with change is not so much what we think of change, but rather how we respond to change. In all honesty, there are probably few words that throw up such a kaleidoscope of differing interpretations and emotions.

In some ways, change is exciting. We all want our lives to improve, and there is no progress without change. On the other hand, the word also holds some very negative connotations.

If you look up synonyms for ‘changeable’ you will find words such as: ‘uncertain’, ‘volatile’, ‘unsettled’, ‘unstable’. All of those can make us feel ‘insecure’, ‘vulnerable’ and ‘unsure’.

There is a part of us that likes to feel safe and secure and change clearly goes against that. However, after change has occurred, we often refer to it as ‘progress’, ‘evolution’, ‘advancement’ or ‘growth’, and this throws up a far more positive set of emotions.

Therefore, it seems that it is not change itself which scares us so much as the transition process. We feel comfortable with the stability of things as they presently are. Now is somehow comforting because we know what to expect; yet our ‘now’ is changing every day.

Perhaps it is not change that we fear so much as the loss of control that we associate with it. Change, on whatever level, always carries with it an element of risk. Sometimes that fear, that perceived risk, is so big that it keeps us where we are now despite the current discomforts.

At the other end of the scale, there are times when we have all been guilty of making changes just for the sake it. We change the color of our hair, we change the layout of the living room furniture, we may even change jobs.

I used to change jobs every 3 or 4 months, as no job I ever found was the ‘right job’. At some level, I believed that if I found the ‘right job’ I would be happy. However, it was then pointed out to me that you could move to a different planet and nothing will really change because you are still taking ‘You’ with you.

Why do we do that? We do it to avoid making the changes in our life that really matter. In reality, it may be our choice of career that is making us unhappy, but we will change our hair color ‘just to cheer ourselves up’, because that is an ‘easy change’.

Seeing as change can not be avoided, only delayed, why not embrace it? Use it as an opportunity to evaluate what your life, and to get yourself back on track and focused. Use it as your master key to success. That’s what successful people do, so why not you too?

I will leave you with a quote by Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
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This article was edited and distributed by Mark Walters on behalf of Mandy Swift, who was the original author. Learn More : Secrets Of Success

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