Deciding to Change
Are you ready to take the plunge?
Have you ever been at the beach and watched people enter the water?
Some people like to ease steadily into the water.
Some go in stages – advancing a little at a time and waiting a bit before continuing.
And others take the plunge and dive in headfirst.
The same approaches are often used when dealing with change in our lives.
Do you have a favorite?
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Life is Change
Life is full of change. There’s no getting away from it.
It comes in many shapes, styles and flavors.
We grow, meet people, change professions, and even get old.
A storm uproots a tree that smashes into our house.
Our best friend gets married.
Some say the only constant thing in life is change.
How we approach and handle that change is what makes the difference.
Diving in headfirst
I’ve found that depending on the situation, I use all three methods mentioned above when dealing with change.
- It’s nice sometimes to stand on the beach and move further out into the water one slow, careful, and calm step at a time. Gentle changes that flow gracefully.
- I also enjoy getting wet a bit at a time, first a toe, then up to the knees, over the waist, and finally up to my neck. Change coming in easy to accept stages.
- But perhaps my favorite method is to plunge in headfirst. Yes, there’s often that shock to the body and underwater shout (where no one can hear you). And yes, the water temperature is often shocking. But I’ve found that once that initial shock is over, I get accustomed to the temperature very fast, and that the experience is truly refreshing.
Life is for living
I don’t have the answer for anyone else, but for me it seems simple enough.
When I’m relaxing with my great grandchildren, I’m not expecting to have a conversation about the code I wrote in the 90s, or how well I kept my lawn looking. No, I’m thinking that I’ll talk about my adventurous upbringing, the lives I’ve touched, the great experiences I’ve had, the children I helped into this world, the ways I changed the world for the better – even if in a very small way, and the love of my life, my wife.
How do you accept change?
It didn’t come up before, but there is another sort of response – waiting on the edge of the water, but unwilling to enter.
It’s more than a statement about swimming; it’s a statement about accepting change – or in this case, refusing to accept change.
I don’t think any one approach to change is much better than any other – different circumstances call for different actions.
But if you’re stuck with only one response to situations, you might look for an alternative, a different way to approach something new. Who knows, you might find a new outlook on the situation…
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