How do you see change?
A break in the normal routine
A threat to your security
A chance to improve your relationships and quality of life
Altering the sense of order you have maintained in life
An unbalancing in which you are unsure of yourself
With fear and dread because of its unknown
A process required to improve your current level of
functioning
Look at those seven statements again and note which ones you
perceive as negative and which ones as positive. It’s all in
the perspective.
I used to mostly fear change. It’s that old ‘comfort zone’
thing again. Change comes along and shakes up all the puzzle
pieces of your jigsaw and suddenly your picture is
unrecognizable. This can be a small issue in your life, like
your schedule for a certain day, or a large issue in your
life like losing your job. In this article I am mostly
referring to the less life-altering changes, the more
irritating ones, like a constant itch, and not the ones
needing CPR or a defibrillator.
Let’s look at some examples of those irritating ‘itches’
that require us to make an unexpected change:
Your client cancels an appointment at the last minute
Your child wakes up not feeling well
The store is out of the item you drove across town to get
Your bank account doesn’t balance with your cheque book
Your spouse is late, hasn’t phoned and you have an
appointment together
Your computer goes down
You get sick
You have a fender bender
Your pants don’t fit, but they did last week
Unexpected company drops in
The power fails
The dentist is running 45 minutes late for your appointment
Your credit card is declined and you KNOW there is no reason
for it
You are intensely focused on your work, and are constantly
being interrupted
The cat/dog threw up in the middle of the living room carpet
It’s 6:00 a.m. and the coffee canister is empty
etc., etc., etc.
Now granted, these are not really big deals, most are
inconveniences. They still have a lot of power and if enough
of them happen in a short span of time, you’re scratching
like you were rolled in poison ivy!
And guess what? You can’t avoid them! They are a fact of
life. You can only react to them. “How”, you say? “In
whatever way you choose”, I say. These incidences don’t
control your life. You control your life by choosing your
reaction.
This is one of the greatest secrets to living! You are
always in control of your life when you ultimately realize
that whatever comes out of left field, whatever comes down
the pike, whatever rears up and causes the itch or even
knocks you flat, it is not the action, but your reaction
that controls the outcome.
So go back to the list of ‘Irritating Itches’ and
make a
decision on each one as to how you could choose to react to
them in a manner that places you in control.
Fun, hey?! |
The
snow is piling up in drifts outside and it is chilly,
chilly. From inside I look through the clear glass roof and
walls of my sun room and marvel at the patterns of ice that
have formed as the warmth from inside melts the snow and it
runs down the outside walls and re-freezes.
of our house. I’m loving the change from an eggshell colour
to a creamy coffee latte!
