Regardless of whether it is incremental, transformational, planned, or emergent, change, whether it is subtle, gradual, instant, expected, or not, is one of the few constants in your life. Being the original influencer, change alters individual lives, societies, and the natural world. It does so by reorganizing perspectives, which in turn transform, redefine, and reset expectations, much of which goes on unnoticed and can only be seen in hindsight.
Driven by the fundamental certainty that if it is organic, it will die to be reborn, if non-organic, it will be destroyed to rebuild, making change both a harbinger and heralder of evolution. Change teaches you that proactive action is better than reactive, that sharing problem-solving is better than not, and being humble about its complexities reduces the cost of palpable mistakes. If you fail to learn these lessons, you fail to recognise there are two sides to the coin — when you can make change, and when you are not.
Change is a relentless, indifferent dispeller of ignorance that can’t be stopped, a powerhouse like no other, that lies within you because, whether self-initiated or externally imposed, it is fundamental to your empowerment and personal transformation. It is an internal process influenced by your mindset, decisions, and actions, as well as by your responses to external circumstances beyond your control. Consequently, change operates both within and through you, contributing to and shaping external developments. This means your existence and actions serve as catalysts for both internal and external transformation via your behaviours, whether positive or challenging, often unintentionally initiate, inspire, influence, foster growth, and enable transformation in others by example, just as they do you.
You work this internal miracle of miracles by recognizing and exercising your choices and decisions in what you think, which determines the way you look, your personality, your actions, your non-actions, your lifestyle, and how you play your role within your environment and in society itself. Since you are what you think, as your thoughts change, so you evolve, and the cycle continues.
A cycle driven by your thoughts, words, and deeds, and Mother Nature enables you to shape your future by overcoming internal barriers such as fear, self-doubt, limiting beliefs, negative thoughts, mental blocks, and restricting thinking. Harnessing the power of change helps you open your mind to be receptive to new ideas, actively listening, and questioning, all of which increase your confidence and feed your self-worth.
By actively and objectively analysing information, evidence, and arguments to form a sound judgment or decision, you are questioning assumptions, which brings into question current thinking. As you do so, you can evaluate the different and new perspectives that come to the fore. By keeping your emotions in check with logic, experience, and reasoning throughout the process, you step away from accepting information at face value and reach a decision that reduces the risk of you becoming a victim of hidden agendas and unintended outcomes. As you become more mentally flexible, you can be more appreciative of your full potential, which, when guided by common sense, helps you develop foresight and adaptability.
Nevertheless, whether change is internal or external, major or minor, it is seldom straightforward, even when self-initiated, due to the phenomenon of unintended consequences that always accompany it. They trigger instinctual emotional responses that range from shock, denial, and curiosity to a sense of resolution, each of which can spark further shifts in how you react, ranging from stubborn resistance and uncooperativeness to ultimately accepting, adapting, or even innovating in response to the changes you face.
Therefore, embracing change means investing in and taking ownership of your life by making informed choices about the opportunities that always accompany it. Yet internal change is reliant on your willingness to become more self-aware, a higher-mind activity that enables you to identify patterns of what can and can’t be changed, develop the flexibility to adapt, and be prepared to take responsibility for the consequences of the changes you make. Your reward is the more aware you become, the more innovative and critical thinker you are, and the fewer unintended consequences occur.
However, deep-seated fears can limit self-awareness, which in turn stops you from understanding the root causes of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Without these essentials, your thoughts are stifled, you are oblivious to pattern changes, blind to your strengths, weaknesses, and potential, and tend to react with the fear-driven basic instincts, emotions, and desires of the lower mind, making or accepting change much harder. By facing your fears, you begin the journey of linking your inner development with the results you create, making you responsible for the outcomes of your actions. Adopting self-responsibility empowers you to shape your future and take agency over your life.
Therefore, it takes clarity, commitment, flexibility, consistency, courage and above all compassion to examine change and understand its purpose in all its forms, the human responses to it, and the practical strategies needed for navigating it effectively. As you learn through experimentation and experience, it is vital to keep reviewing your values as you slowly but surely turn internal uncertainty into external innovation.
Embracing change does not mean you are surrendering control; it means you are being invited to seize the freedom to choose what you feel needs to be protected, preserved, or transformed, and the opportunity to move forward with mindful intention and purpose and create a better world with humility and grace. By doing so, you realize that although there is no doubt that change can be challenging and presents risk, it also brings forth opportunity in equal measure.
Article by Elizabeth Francis
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