August 2011 - Changes, Changes and More Changes

How can we cope with constant change?
Case Study Our wish for you: Resources (links, books, articles, the lighter side)

August 2011 – Changes, Changes and More Changes

For many people, this is a year of changes. Many people are moving, changing jobs, changing partners, changing their hairstyle, changing their ideas, updating their beliefs, shifting their priorities and / or looking at things in a different way.

Changes are happening in our "inner world" (our beliefs and ideas and goals) and changes are happening in our "outer world" – the physical place that we see with our eyes and feel with our bodies.

Our world economy is changing – who knows where it will finally end up.

Our physical world is changing – the earth is moving and shaking all over the globe, with resulting "disasters" and long-term ramifications.

Our world is in a constant state of flux. It is actually designed that way — to change — not to stay the same.

What this means that there are lots of people in an "unsettled" state. They may be forgetful, impatient, spacey, unclear, foggy, tired, stressed and all the normal attributes that come with major changes. Or, they may be filled with a sense of adventure and delight at what is happening all around them. Or they may feel both the positive aspects of change and the negative aspects of change almost at the same.

All of these changes can make some people feel like they don’t have control over their world, which is a very unsettling place to be.

How can we cope with constant change?

What can we do when we can’t control the outer world we live in? How can we find peace and happiness when we can’t count on things staying the same or stable over a long period of time?

First, it is important to understand that continuous change is the natural state of affairs. Constancy and rigidity are not the natural state.

Our best chance for happiness lies in developing inner strength and the understanding that we must adapt to a constantly changing world. We may not be able to control external events. However, we can control how we react to them and how we deal with them.

If something happens that is unexpected, we can laugh and we can know that we can cope with something new. We can feel excitement at a new adventure. We can explore a new pathway. We can adjust our schedules. We can remember that we are still alive and still safe, regardless of what else is changing — even when things may not be the same tomorrow as they are today.

The cycle of life is one of changes – seasons change, bodies change, minds change, materials change over time, things wear out, new things are created and the cycle continues constantly. The only real constant is change.

While we are changing, almost everyone we know is changing also. We can be gentle with ourselves when we are undergoing major changes and we can be gentle with others who are undergoing major changes.

If we can relax and know that all is well no matter what is happening around us, we can find inner peace and happiness while coping with constant changes.

Case Study

We’ve lost track personally of all the changes we’ve gone through in the past year so we won’t try to itemize them. We'll focus our comments on some of the outer physical changes.

Like so many others, we have moved physically. This meant selling a home, moving from Washington State back to California, where we had lived for 20 years before moving to Washington in 2001. The move meant leaving family, friends and a community that we had grown to love.

After we sold our home in Washington, we stayed with family in California for almost 7 months while waiting for our new home to become available. Most of our "belongings" were in storage during that time, so we lived a very simple life with only a suitcase of clothes and our computer available to us.

Last week, we finally moved into our new home. We experienced a series of unexpected events, delays and many wrinkles in the process that could have turned our life into drama or heartache or stress or worry or fear if we had chosen to let it be that way. Instead, we laughed a lot, we remained flexible, we stayed alert and ready for changes, and we made adjustments when necessary.

Each day of our journey over the past year has been an adventure. Lots of our "treasures" found new homes in Washington before we left. Other beloved things will probably move along as we now see how they no longer fit where we are today.

Lots of adjustments had to be made in downsizing. Unpacking is a daily adventure as we find things we’d forgotten about and can’t find things we were sure we packed.

Many memories are coming to us as we unwrap some of our favorite items. Lots of happy memories come forth. And some sad ones as we encounter reminders of people we loved who are no longer with us physically. We can see how much the children and grandchildren have grown, and how other friends have changed over time.

We are creating an entirely new life as we arrange and rearrange the physical things. Our inner life is being recreated also and those changes are less obvious at this time.

We can see how some of our ideas have changed and what is important to us has changed over the past year. Over time, our readers may see some changes in the types of things we write about as our inner changes become clearer.

Our wish for you this month

Whatever is going on in your own life, we do hope you will find the adventure and joy, and let go of the stress and worry that can sometimes sneak up on us when we are not prepared for it. Even if your life is not changing in dramatic ways, allow yourself to feel adventure and joy as much as possible, no matter what is going on in your inner world or your outer world.

Life is truly a blessing and every day is a brand new chance to create something wonderful.

Books - Disclosure: We get a small commission for purchases made via links to Amazon.

The Three Boxes of Life, Richard Bolles. Ten Speed Press, 1981. ISBN-13: 978-0913668580 (Richard Bolles is also the author of the very popular What Color is Your Parachute books).
William Bridges. Several books about dealing with personal changes and corporate changes, including:
- Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes
- Surviving Corporate Transition: Rational Management in a World of Mergers, Layoffs, Start-Ups, Takeovers, Divestitures, Deregulation, and New Technology
- Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
- The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moments
- Creating Your & Co.: Learn to Think Like the CEO of Your Own Career
The Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for Living Your Best Life. Marianne Williamson. HarperOne, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0060816117
Dealing with Change - many books listed.
The Power Path: The Shaman's Way to Success in Business and Life. Jose Stevens. New World Library, 2002. ISBN: 1577312171
Income Without a Job: Living Well Without a Paycheck. Michael Jay Anthony, Barbara J. Taylor. Lulu.com, 2008 ISBN-13: 978-0-557-00377-8. Website: www.income-without-a-job.com. Tap into your own creativity and use your full potential. Learn how to see opportunities that others miss.

Articles

The Lighter Side

About our resource links: We do not endorse or agree with all the beliefs in these links. We do keep an open mind about different viewpoints and respect the ability of our readers to decide for themselves what is useful.

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