CHANGE

"Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have---and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up."-James Belasco & Ralph Stayer

Change is so freaking hard. Change is so freaking exciting. I don't get it, but I'm here for it. I love welcomed changed, and I'm trying to be open to forced change.

Perhaps the fear of change is really a fear of loss – because even "good " change brings about loss – the loss of something familiar, the loss of autonomy, the loss of relationships. What I discovered was there are other ways of doing things, new insights to be gained and personal growth to be experienced.  Viewing change as an opportunity – a chance to evolve and grow – lessens the fear. (http://www.jaburgwilk.com/news-publications/embracing-change)

When I was 10 years old I went through a lot more life changes than I would have liked. I experienced a death for the first time when my grandpa passed away, my brother left on a 2 year mission for our church, and then soon after I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Whatever "normal" life I used to live in was now drastically changing and I wasn't so sure if it was "for the better." However, here I am almost 18 years later and guess what, those changes don't even affect me anymore. Well diabetes definitely still affects me and I still miss my grandpa, but it's just a normal part of life now, not a soul shattering part of life. I'm still happy (most days) and I've grown and changed a lot since I was 10....in really, really, good ways....and maybe in a few cynical ways too. Whatever discomfort change brings it typically brings a lot of growth with it and that's pretty dang cool.

There's lots of tips for embracing change:

1. take small action steps

2. be willing to go back in order to move forward

3. check your ego

4. fail correctly

More on this at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248977

One time I changed my hair color to blonde (the lady had zero idea of what she was doing). That was a bad change. I've been through a couple of bad breakups. I learned a lot from those changes too.

I told you it was bad.

In 27.5 years of life I've gone through A LOT of other changing too: things I like, people I hang out with, jobs I've had, who I want to be, what I want out of life....and I'm here to say that despite all the changing life has still been really good to me.

Remember, if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

I'm excited and terrified of whatever other changes are yet to come.

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better." - King Whitney Jr. 

#ithink that things will always get better.