9 Hints for Coping with Change
by Gordon Rosenberg
This is a time of rapid change on this planet. We are all changing– faster than you may realize or like. This change may be causing considerable stress and possible disruption in your life. I offer you this list of reasons for change and hints on how to deal with the stress it’s causing you. (See link at bottom for more discussion on each of these suggestions.)
1. Change is a necessary part of life. Without change there would be no life at all. Our lives are actually fueled by change, though most of us want a certain amount of stability. If you can learn to accept change as a helpful friend rather than something to be avoided, you may experience less stress.
2. Change may be putting you on your life path. Many of us become distracted by aspects of our lives–stuck in a rut–and need to be reawakened to our greater possibilities. Sometimes it’s necessary for your life to change in some ways to get you back on your true path, even if it causes disruption.
3. There’s really nothing you have to do. When we tackle life as a competitive event to be won or conquered, we create much stress for ourselves. See life as an experience to have and realize you don’t have to push yourself to do or achieve so much, and you may be happier.
4. Slow down. Related to the previous hint, this one is to recognize that you don’t need to be anyplace in particular. You can experience life where you are. You don’t need to be someplace else. Most of us are rushing to be someplace else and miss most of what’s happening where we are each moment.
5. Get back in touch with the real you. If you don’t know who you are, the one who came here to have this life experience, you may be feeling disconnected from your source. There are many ways and disciplines for helping you reconnect with source and remember your true essence.
6. Don’t try to earn or learn your way out of here. It’s all right to be exactly who and where you are now. This may seem to contradict the last hint, but really they go together. When you stop striving to be something more or smarter and accept what is, you create an opening for your essential self to emerge.
7. Realize you are at choice about many things in your life. We often believe we can’t change anything, that we’re fated in some ways into lives that may not be serving us. Once you accept that change is inevitable and in fact always happening on many levels, you can learn to use it for your own benefit.
