There's something wonderfully comforting about knowing what comes next. The feel of your favorite chair as you relax and unwind. The smell of morning coffee. That familiar smile of a friend. A fresh, tart bite of a Granny Smith apple. Or the soft flow of notes in a sweet song. Touch. Smell. Sight. Taste. Sound. Life according to you. But what happens when, in a single moment or series of moments, life as you know it suddenly changes?
Your first impulse is resistance. Even good change pushes us outside our routine, beyond our "control zone". New can be exhilarating. However, if that something new is negative, it feels more like a roller coaster ride of unexpected twists and turns, chugging to the top and cascading to the bottom. You know – the scary parts where your stomach caves in and your breath gets sucked away. You just want the ride to end! The last thing you need? Someone telling you to just embrace the change and go with the flow until "normal" comes around again. What if it doesn't?
Seize the challenge! Adopt the attitude of sage psychologist and writer William James who blatantly dares us "To change one's life:
- Start immediately.
- Do it flamboyantly.
- No exceptions."
Not simply flowing but doing. In other words, just go boldly forward!
Look, even the definition of change is characterized as dynamic. To move, to take, to transform from one thing to another. The act of becoming different. Interestingly, change also means to lay aside, abandon or leave one thing for another. Sometimes you have to shake off the old "comfortable" and let your senses be tested. Reintroduce yourself to life! A funny thing happens when you press on and take that leap of faith. You find resilience, an ableness to persevere, new friends that grace your journey and a gratitude for the "you" that still remains. You conquer the roller coaster, raise up your arms and scream in victory.
What does being courageous take? Through the years, Health Points has published a series of reader stories. You'll find them online in our TyH Health Library. In these stories, you'll encounter people who had that moment of change, some for the worse before the better. But they found the audacity and strength within themselves to be bigger than what was happening to them. They redefined their "normal". It can happen to you. Who knows? Maybe the next inspiring story you read will be your own.
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