Can I handle change?

Change is something that happens to us on a daily basis. We do not feel much about the changes that affect our lives in this way because most of the time they happen in subtle, almost unnoticeable ways. But they are changes anyway. Think about it, how many times do we find that the waiter or waitress at our favourite restaurant is different, and yet we had struck a good rapport with the one that has just left? Does this do anything at all to our lives and the custom of eating at this particular place or is it something that we can dismiss as of no consequence? Though we ignore such a change, it has a bearing on something in our lives no matter how insignificant it may be.

It is the bigger more effective changes that we all abhor. Changes that disrupt routine and the comforts that we are already used to. It is from these bigger changes that we get the words "nobody likes changes" . Is it the changes that we hate, or is it the discomfort that we can not stand?

If we were to deal with the issue of good changes, that is, changes that improve major areas of our live e.g. work, families, relationships etc, we realize that we will always attempt to resist the change even when it is for our good. Imagine a change that for example removes alcohol and drugs from our family settings, yet almost everyone attests to how difficult it can be to embrace such changes. And yet, if one were to mention a change for the better to anyone's financial situation, the receipient will always leap with joy and eagerness at this prospect. What then is it that causes any resistance or procrastination to change?

What would the results be?
The financial change is easily acceptable because we all know what we can do with a little more money than we have. We can already visualize and appreciate the future with more to spend - maybe because we dream of it daily. Any change that we have not visualized in the future tense remains unknown to us and is difficult to embrace. We are simply unprepared for it both psychologically and physically. It is true therefore to say that the human being can deal with any change - they need only be prepared.

Getting ready.
Each person is best prepared for change when they get to discover what is the most effective way of implementing change. Someone once told me that if he needed to change or pick a habit, he only stuck to the new habit that he desires for 10 straight days. Another suggests a month of religious observation of what we want to achieve and it's done. We can appreciate then that its all about different strokes for different folks. But certain ingredients seem to be necessary for any style of change to be meaningfully effective:

• First, we must consult our personal constitution. We must determine beyond any doubt, exactly what we want for ourselves. This is the spiritual part and that which governs our private universe.
  
• It is necessary to have a motivating factor in the endeavor. While our first step can be a sufficient motivation, the end product should be a good energizer. Remember the example of an improved financial situation?
• We must manage the particular change. Like all good managers we must have a workable plan that is easy or comfortable for us to follow.
• Try this one out! Reward yourself once the change is in place. Of course the idea is to come up with the reward at the beginning of the process and to actually award it to ourselves once we succeed.

If like me you are a change person (or one who only recently decided to make changes), it is always an additional boost to tackle the small changes and use them to graduate to bigger ones. I just don't know how anyone manages to leave civilization and re-locate to some remote village with no running water or electricity - that is major!

One last word, if we try one way of achieving change and it fails for us, we must go right back and try another. If we persist, we end up discovering that which best suits us.