People tend to anticipate change as a negative, but most good things that happen in life are also about a change occurring. Getting married is change, having a baby is change, moving to a new home is change, basically, making your dreams come true is about change.
Now, not all change is about making your dreams come true and part of the difference between perceiving whether a change is a positive or negative is the level of control and input someone has in the change process. We are typically afraid of the unknown and when there are several changes occurring in a person’s life, the effect of the stress this causes is compounded and can take a toll on a person’s health and their ability to deal with the changes effectively.
One way to deal with the anguish of change is to prepare mentally ahead of time. Just knowing that a change will take place, even if we don’t know the details, can help alleviate some of the anxiety associated with the change process. Another way to deal with change is to put it into perspective by asking your self, “What is the worst that could happen?” because frequently it isn’t that bad and then ask, “Do I have the power change it?”. If you don’t have the power to change it, realizing this can save you a lot energy worrying about it.
Ultimately, if we realize that change is a process, that some change is good and we all adjust to changes over time, then we might just learn to embrace change as an opportunity for a new experience. Sometimes, we even learn to like some changes we were resistant to originally.
