Change Is Inevitable

Change is in the air.  Change is here.  

As I stated in my 2019 post, Get Ready for Change, when the season turns from summer to fall here in Maryland, we notice a change in the temperature (it drops), daylight (it gets dark sooner), and foliage (the leaves begin to fall off the trees). I also notice a personal difference: my skin gets dry, and I have to change my moisturizer. 

Change is inevitable. Change will occur whether we like it or not. Living in Maryland since birth, I’ve grown accustomed to seasonal changes. I’m not too fond of the change from summer to fall or fall to winter (especially fall to winter), but unless I move out of Maryland, seasonal changes are things that I expect and for which I prepare. It’s time to pack away my summer clothes and bring out my fall/winter clothes.  It’s also time to put away the flip-flops and sandals and break out the sneakers and boots. 

While I look forward to and embrace seasonal changes, personal changes intimidate me. I’m a planner by nature. I keep calendars and to-do lists on paper and my phone. I like when a plan comes together as expected. 

But how many of you know that change doesn’t care about a plan? It will march into your house, fix itself a sandwich, and plop on the couch in front of the television. Change will make itself comfortable in your life – asking you for the television remote and daring you to try to evict it. However, change serves a purpose.

Changes push us from our comfort zones, force us to discover new things, and teach us unique aspects about ourselves and our surroundings. However, changes, even positive ones, can cause stress and anxiety. The uncertainty can make us feel like we’re standing on unstable ground.  

So, what’s our plan when the inevitable shows up, as we know it will? How can we effectively manage change?

Welcome & Embrace Change

We must welcome and embrace change when it shows up at our door. No matter how perfectly you plan your life, it will come. Instead of fighting against change, we must expect and welcome it. Doing so empowers us to embrace it.

We say it all the time, change is inevitable. So, instead of resisting it, embrace it. Open your heart and arms to it and see where it leads. The change you’re dreading today could be the catalyst that propels you into your destiny tomorrow. Embrace it and see where it leads.

Learn from Change

Change teaches us something about ourselves and our surroundings. It can teach us that we’ve become complacent or lazy. Change can also teach us that we’ve been settling and that there’s more to life that we need to experience.  

Trust God with Change

If you are a Christian, I urge you to trust God during the change(s) you’re experiencing. God has a purpose and plan for your life. All the Bible characters experienced change. Think about Joseph being separated from his father in the book of Genesis, Esther winning a beauty contest and becoming queen, Jesus being separated from His Father, or Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his subsequent conversion. There was a purpose and plan for them, and there’s a purpose and plan for us. 

Change is coming. So welcome, embrace, and learn from it. Don’t live your life so structured that you fall apart when change comes. Nothing is forever, not even the discomfort from the changes we’re currently experiencing. And while we get comfortable in our day-to-day lives, change can be the very thing we need to shake us up and push us into our destinies.  

Don’t despise change.  Let change – change you!

PS: Check out my Youtube video in which I encourage you to pivot. You can watch it here.