Photo and blog by Sharman Dow
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” –Alan Watts
If you are ever going to grow and fully become the person you were meant to be, then you must embrace change – change in your attitude, change in your thought process, change in your heart, changes in your career and changes in your personal life. If there is anything in life, other than death and taxes, it is change.
Understanding that nothing stays the same, embracing change can be a marvelous life experience. Change brings growth and growth brings confidence and confidence brings courage and courage brings creativity and creativity brings contentment. The four “Cs” – confidence, courage, creativity and contentment – this is your ultimate goal, because when you find you are able to embrace change you will empower yourself to achieve success in your business and personal life.
But at first, change is uncomfortable and can be painful. It will cause fear in us, and fear of change is a success killer. We have fear of change, because it implies a loss of control and a feeling of uncertainty. It forces you to walk in the unknown and stretch yourself beyond your limits, and sometimes that can hurt or even be scary.
So how does success come from embracing change? You must first overcome fear of change.
To overcome fear of change, first understand what change means. Change simply implies a variation from something old to something new. Change is a transformation from one way to another – meaning it’s just something that is no longer the same. It may be done in little tweaks or in a radical alteration. It may be done to you by outside circumstances or by you deciding you want something better for yourself. Change is making an essential difference with a loss of identity from what you started out with to a new version. Change stops repetition, duplication and the same old thing every day. It will not allow you to live a mediocre life.
To embrace change you must change your attitude toward it. Your attitude is a feeling or emotion you have about something. Paul talks about it in Romans 12:2 when he says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” When life gets you down, start looking for the positive things that are happening and make adjustments – adjustments in your attitude, heart and thought pattern. Don’t dwell on the negative.
The story of Joseph in the Bible exemplifies the ability of one person to accept and embrace change with an attitude of excellence (Genesis 37-50). As the favored son of his father, he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken off to Egypt. When he found himself in the position as a slave in Egypt, he not only accepted it, but embraced it by becoming the top slave in his master’s home. Then he was thrown into jail by being falsely accused of adultery by his master’s wife. While in prison he quickly became the guards favored prisoner and got special treatment. In other words, whatever situation Joseph found himself in, he accepted the change and did it with excellence. His faith in God helped him to accept his dire circumstances, trusting that God was in control – not him.
The story of Joseph goes on, and ultimately he saved the entire nation of Israel from starvation by being placed in charge of the food supply in all of Egypt. WOW! What an ability he had to accept change and do it with a great attitude, by trusting God! Are you able to be like Joseph when change comes your way? Are you able to trust God for the changes in your life?
Sometimes circumstances in your life don’t seem to go the way you intended, and the changes that happen to you appear to be negative. But maybe those changes are God’s way of getting you out of your comfort zone and teaching you to grow.
Have you ever thought of looking at change as God’s hand in guiding you to something better? Or, maybe even protecting you from something even worse? Start looking at change as a positive in your life that can transform you into a better person, better employee and better parent. Join the dance – embrace change, and you will call success into your life!
Sharman Dow is the founder of the Empower Women’s Conference, coming October 22nd to Orange County. Register today!
