The One Constant is Change

I often hear that change is difficult. What happens within you when I write, change isn't difficult, but it is different? Change implies doing something different, doesn’t it?  So why complicate it? Our brain oftentimes make situations more difficult than they actually are. In fact, change is the only constant we can rely on. But our brain and our autonomic nervous system (ANS) get wired through repetition and therefore, they prefer the familiar. And yet, the familiar becomes outdated. The familiar wiring of our brain and ANS is what kept us feeling safe when we were very young. And the very thing that kept us feeling safe as a child can begin to feel stifling as an adult.

So, what do we do? We must do something DIFFERENT. In order to start doing something different, we first must become aware that we are simply (unconsciously) repeating patterns of thoughts and behaviors. Awareness is key. And once we become aware of our habitual patterning, self-compassion is essential. Bringing self-compassion to the thoughts and behaviors that once kept you feeling safe within yourself, with others and the world, allows you to begin to cultivate gratitude for how these thoughts and behaviors protected you before you had all of the resources that you do today. Acknowledging these thoughts and behaviors were initially quite beneficial to your sense of safety, allows for welcoming them, being with them, as a pathway toward gently releasing them.

Releasing outdated thoughts and behaviors, creates space within, allowing you to respond differently to life situations from a place of presence instead of habitual reaction. Sometimes a shift can start by simply changing one word - difficult to different - may be the update that will help us all soften into our own power to create the change within ourselves that then begins to change the world.