How Do You Embrace Change?

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By Andrea V. Watson

Change can be scary. Most people don’t like it. Even good change can be a little nerve-racking because we like routine. The unknown is a little intimidating.

Sometimes we stay in a situation for years so that when it is time to embark on a new chapter we get jittery. For example, learning how to be single again after a long term relationship can create mixed emotions. Even if you initiated the break up, you’ve gotten used to having that person in your life. Now living without them can feel strange.

Leaving a job for another can be exciting but scary too. You have to learn the new office rules. You lose your old work friends for new ones. You feel like you have to perform at 100 percent nonstop because you’re in your probationary period and you know your boss is watching extra hard. You can’t get comfortable just yet.

Or what about moving to a new city? It’s also exciting, but challenging as well, especially if you don’t have any friends or family there. You find new favorite restaurants and bars. You explore. You get familiar with the streets and culture and how to use the public transit system. You meet new people.

I’ve experienced all three and what I’ve learned is that change is scary but change is needed. Unless we’re forced into change, we can get complacent and never move.

I worked at my previous job for three years and I loved it. I would think about other jobs from time to time, but I wasn’t actively seeking a new job. One day, as I blogged about back in November, my company abruptly shutdown. I was forced to embrace change. I didn’t get to put in a two weeks notice. Nope. I had a short amount of time to find a new job unless I wanted to move back in with my parents.

The last couple of months have been a little scary, not because I thought the worse would happen to me, but because I was comfortable where I was and the moment I lost my job, I knew I would have to soon embrace change. I did it with a positive attitude though. Change can be fun. It’s all in how you look at it.

You don’t want to grow old and have regrets so don’t be afraid of change. Leaving your comfort zone, leaving what’s familiar can be intimidating, but you deserve many great experiences in life. You won’t get them, however, if you never get up and walk.

So I encourage you to take risks, try new things and if it’s a change you didn’t have a say in, like mine, find new things to look forward to. Find something worth waking up for. You’re stronger than you realize and you can and will adapt with time.

You got this!