I recently visited the Highlands of Scotland and stayed in a cottage with a huge picture window overlooking a sea loch with mountains behind and a nearby island with sea eagles nesting there. A wonderful place to walk, write, reflect on life and generally watch the world go by. One thing I noticed from minute to minute was how nature changes the landscape, yet it is not in anyway diminished by these natural movements in light and weather. It is equally beautiful in a downpour, storm, with winds blowing a gale or on a crisp, sunny autumnal day.
So, I wondered as we are part of this natural world, have we perhaps lost some of our ability to adapt to changes that go on in our life? Or (to be a little kinder on ourselves) perhaps we are a little slow to adapt to what is happening to us on a daily basis especially with those changes speeding up in our world today.
I am a great fan of building people up to be more resilient to these quick moving events and learning where appropriate to let go and go with the flow, just like nature. A river may find another route around a mini dam and end up irrigating a piece of land otherwise starved of nutrients and so a new something emerges from what may seem an obstacle.
So perhaps we need to look at the changes in our life as a springboard for us to adapt and survive then thrive, to become light of foot and be enriched by the nature within us when being challenged and then emerging brighter, faster and fitter at tackling the supposed obstacles we see before us.
Change is inevitable, it just happens, it is needed for growth, nothing ever remains the same. Changes happen from day to day, from month to month and year to year. It is the passage of time. Just look back to how you have changed from last year, even if it seems that nothing has changed you are not the same.
You have experienced a whole year more on this Earth and so those interactions which may seem tiny have changed you. Even a smile from a stranger, a belly laugh of a small child playing with their parent, a friend’s shared moment of need, there are millions of small interactions going on in the world every single day and we are changed by them. Why? Simply because we are all made of the same material, we are all part of nature, we all laugh, cry, love and feel despair.
We are all humanity together and as such part of the natural world. We have adapted over millions of years and are still doing that today. So, we are indeed stronger and more flexible than we generally acknowledge.
Now is the time to become aware of this movement within us as a response to the movement out in the world. To be resilient and move with the flow and adapt our lives in a way to feel the excitement and the peace in not resisting change. In fact, to go one step further to build our immediate space with an optimistic view that we can make changes ourselves which would enhance the general feeling of community and so ripple these positive changes outwards.
I can think of many distressing scenarios that people are going through on a day-to-day basis. So many battling chronic and terminal illnesses, problems with jobs, finances and loss. I do understand, my family too have experienced much the same. In fact, the reason I ended up doing the work I do today was because from my early life, mid-teens to mid-twenties there was turmoil in my own life.
I somehow found a way to fight through and make better choices which brought me to a place where I wanted something different.
Whatever we face I think we can find some positives in the situation, that may sound dismissive of the fragility we feel and the depth of some of the very sad situations we can experience.
Well sometimes those dark storms come and often we can’t see the full reason or the broader picture of changes needed on the Earth. Events happen in order to change the flow, so we see what is a better choice. Often, we feel the true depth of our connected humanity when these trials happen. People do unimaginable heroic actions to help others in these moments and so our compassion and empathy come to the fore.
Here though, I am addressing the simpler everyday changes which upset our equilibrium and we can feel all at sea just not knowing what to do next. When this happens may I suggest you take a moment to look outside or even go for a walk and notice the clouds moving in the wind, the change of light, the strength of the rain or the brightness of the sun on the crisp air. Remind yourself that nothing remains for more than a moment in time, and that you are a part of that natural movement. Then know, you too have that inner strength, that resilience and can make choices in response to the moving goalposts within your own life. You too are a force of nature and you too can make the most of the changes which are happening around you.
The Highlands mountains were made over millions of years and people in those parts were made from hardy stock when the many fishing villages erupted along the coasts of the lochs. We have the ability as human beings to adapt, to find solutions, to help each other and build communities.
Many years ago, when I was training to work as a complementary therapist, I read a book by Susan Jeffers “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”. The title struck a note with me because I, like many these days, felt a lot of fear. It was the title I used as my mantra. Feel the fear of change and carry on through it, with the fear at first but then turned into excitement, then when it worked out, I felt elated. However, even in the moments it didn’t go to plan I could feel proud of myself that I had tried.
On my trip to those magnificent Highlands, I came up with a little phrase “If you don’t give it a go, you’ll never know.” Collectively my friends and I walked approximately 240 miles in six days. Regaining strength from the nature around us, all of us, from what was a rough year, but not one we were taking lying down.
So set yourself your own challenges be it small or large, make your own changes rather than waiting for them to pop up and throw you into an uneasy situation. That way you find yourself adapting to change quicker working with your inbuilt ability to do so.
So, watch the flow of your life, be gentle on yourself but look at making better choices, look at changing things up. Look at where you are stuck and make a small change towards a better goal. Then when it works celebrate it, yes stand up and be counted for your successes. Then build on them. See what experiences you can turn around, look at the time you are sharing with people close to you and make it count. Take time to watch the changes of nature’s seasons and see where your own light within is shining and do more of that.
Yes, life is full of changes, yet we can make those changes too and they can be as natural to us as the change in weather.
Article by Patricia McDowall
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