Changes are inevitable \u2013 both the positive ones as well as the ones that challenge us.\u00a0 How\u2019s that for stating the obvious?\u00a0 Sometimes we know the changes are coming \u2013 we change jobs or move.\u00a0 Other times changes happen suddenly \u2013 an accident or event that is unexpected. \u00a0Some changes are quick while others can be indefinite, as with health issues.\u00a0 There are changes that span the spectrum as far as their impact \u2013 from relatively minor changes to ones that turn our lives upside down.<\/p>\n
If only this was the complete break down for changes \u2013 except that each change we encounter can be different and affect us uniquely.\u00a0 The way we experience changes can be just as unpredictable as the changes that happen in our life.\u00a0 And there\u2019s also the way that we personally handle changes \u2013 some people react with grace and flexibility while others can get flustered and struggle.\u00a0 We can also move between these, as this too is a continuum.\u00a0 It\u2019s not as simple as only reacting with ease, as it takes time and energy to adjust, so we cycle through feelings.<\/p>\n
How do you react to changes?\u00a0 What kinds of changes do you simply roll with the flow versus changes that provide a greater challenge to handle?\u00a0 When we know our strengths and our weaknesses, we can then consider how to do our best in reacting to the changes.<\/p>\n
Consider the person who struggles with sudden changes \u2013 short notice changes \u2013 bringing up anxiety or stress.\u00a0 They know life can throw curve balls, where plans can go awry, and they don\u2019t want to react so strongly.\u00a0 Working to accept the abrupt changes with more serenity is great.\u00a0 It\u2019s also not the only approach, as you recognize your own reactions.\u00a0 Recently I had a client share that she doesn\u2019t handle sudden changes well \u2013 and by sharing that she was helping both of us.\u00a0 Not only would I understand if she faced this situation while I was there, I can now do what I can to minimize any surprises.<\/p>\n
What do you tell yourself about how you deal with changes in your life?\u00a0 When we\u2019re successful, we can dismiss the process we went through in adjusting to the changes or we can appreciate our strength and grace in dealing with the changes.\u00a0 On the other hand, the changes that are more challenging can elicit self-criticism.\u00a0 Our struggles can become evidence of our \u201cfailures\u201d in life rather than simply a more complex situation that\u2019s pushing us to adapt.\u00a0 We\u2019re all more prone to identify the bumps we experienced over the areas where we succeeded.<\/p>\n
Is there ever a time to be critical of yourself \u2013 about how you weren\u2019t perfect?<\/p>\n
How does it serve you to be critical?\u00a0 Does it help you to cope more successfully for the future changes?\u00a0 I\u2019d imagine that it mostly deflates the flexibility and grace you do have and undermines your self-confidence.\u00a0 And this isn\u2019t to say that the self-critical-ness isn\u2019t going to still pop up\u2013 it\u2019s not as easy as flipping a switch to turn it off.\u00a0 It is about what you do when that voice gets loud.\u00a0 If you can recognize it as your interpretation \u2013 your perception \u2013 and you might be biased; you can start to lighten up on yourself.<\/p>\n
Tackling organizing projects are changes you\u2019re working to bring about \u2013 it\u2019s your choosing \u2013 and that doesn\u2019t automatically make it smooth and easy.\u00a0 It can seem like it\u2019s so small in the grand scheme of things \u2013 and yet that doesn\u2019t mean it won\u2019t bring challenges \u2013 even in the midst of the lightening and successes. \u00a0Therefore, consider things going on in your life \u2013 are there changes you\u2019re adjusting to \u2013 even without thinking about it in that way? \u00a0\u00a0Please allow yourself to be right where you are in your own ch-ch-cha-changes!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Likely we all know that changes are bound to happen \u2013 we can\u2019t side step them \u2013 and whatever the details around those changes, it takes our time and energy to adjust to them. Help yourself to make the most of the changes life brings your way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10,8,13,5,9,7,22],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personaldevelopment","tag-behavior","tag-discipline","tag-gratitude","tag-household","tag-motivation","tag-procrastination","tag-productivity"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-rs","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1704,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions\/1704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}