Chosen Change
What is your relationship to change? Here’s mine…
For me, personally, I find challenge in navigating change that is 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙣.
When a change is 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, I often experience an inner resistance and nervousness. I speak to myself in 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 like, “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬? 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?”
Conversely, when a change is 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, I experience more openness and excitement. I tend to speak to myself in 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 like, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴.”
In reality, both chosen change and unchosen change actually begin with the same sensation in my body. I may feel a tightening of the chest or flutters in my belly. My brow furrows as I fall into curiosity. In that way, nervousness and excitement actually feel quite similar. What’s different is the way I speak to myself and the power I perceive myself to have in the process.
Whether the change you face is chosen or unchosen, what you always have available is 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲. Your ownership of your choice can shift your experience.
If you find yourself struggling to “deal with” change or “manage” change–whether for yourself or for others, try this instead: 𝗧𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆.
Our bodies speak to us in sensation before our minds enter the picture with language and story. Consider that your physical sensations are a sign of aliveness. Remind yourself that you’re human–and human beings have evolved to learn to be discerning about change to ensure we can survive it.
When we can begin to see our body’s physical response to change as merely its wise process of adaptation and evolution, we can begin to release self-judgment and settle into a space of increased openness.
With that openness, we shift from being passive recipients of change to being active participants in it. As active participants, we step more fully into the choice and power that was within us all along.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
𝘗.𝘚. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘪𝘯̃𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵-𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘋𝘔 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 (𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰@𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.𝘤𝘰𝘮) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥!
