Change, when I think about change thoughts pop into my head like: hard, painful, excruciating; basically any negative word in the book. But nothing--I mean nothing POSITIVE seems to come to mind---which is a darn shame. I went out and searched on Accepting Change and I found a great article on LiveStrong.com about accepting change. The article reminded me why I usually am resistant to change--it impacts my cozy little life. You know the one that can be dysfunctional, sad, stressed out or unhappy. Yep, that one--it may have stinky parts--but the stench you know is better than the chance something truly rancid might come along right? Y/N Negative thoughts and fear seem to eradicate the benefits of change: personal growth, new experiences, free your mind from the past and an allow you to contemplate your dreams. There are a lot of positives of change if we learn to ACCEPT change as part of life, that through change we learn how to live and be stronger, kinder and more compassionate of ourselves and toward others.
Now comes the hard part--in order to accept change you have to do some work: 1. You have to accept the past as what it is: The past-it already happened you can't change it! You can apologize/make amends but that is all. 2. Let go the feelings of shame, anger and fear that keeps us STUCK in the unhealthy familiar! You have to let go of the negative thoughts to make room for the new ones! 3. You have to accept change for what it is--a time when life is going to be different than it was before! Be open to it! Tell yourself that change is necessary, change is exciting, be hopeful, have a good ATTITUDE about it! Stop saying you CAN'T change--if you think you can't change than you won't---before you know it you will be back in the same spot as before. The article I referenced above goes into a lot of detail on change! So take a peek! LiveStrong.com
Diagram above: I found this picture above and I thought it was sort of funny! For anyone like me who likes diagrams, flowcharts and graphs this is a good one to recognize the parts of change! You have an inkling of an idea, then you REALLY think about it, you prepare to do it (pros/cons), you take action, then you have to "maintain" it. The great part about it is that it shows Relapse! You may not think that is great--but the movement of the lines show that you why you may go back, the great part is that you have the opportunity to move forward again! I know that for myself when I relapse into my depression--one part of me screams inside my head, "this will never get better, I will always be this depressed". But, that is not the case---when relapse happens you still have options--to contemplate what worked and what didn't, to make a new change, and to figure out what you need to do to maintain the 'new' healthy change! Making a change isn't about being perfect--it is about learning, growing and healing!
Happy Friday! Christine
No comments:
Post a Comment