“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

I hate change.

I mean: I love it, but I also hate it.

I guess you could say I have a love-hate relationship with change.

I love the new opportunities, the horizon, the possibilities that come with change. My love of change is one of the reasons why I do the work I do as a coach, trainer and facilitator.

But I also hate endings, saying good-bye, and not knowing what is going to happen next.

My husband teases me about my habit of – when a book is boring – skimming the end before I’ve actually reached the last page.

It took years for me to stop mentally leaving a place, a person, or project before it was actually over or complete.

Fall signals change for many people, instilled in us from our own school days.

Today my kids start their first day of this school year. I’m thrilled because their return to school means more focused time for my work, which I’ve yearned for over the summer. But I also hate this change because it’s a transition and I will miss the consistency of their loving and lively company.

How we navigate change

What I’ve learned is that we navigate change in a few ways.

We can leap into it, step back, or or resist it. All three ways have value and can provide insight for us.

When I apply this to my own situation, I notice this:

I willingly leap into the new school year! I remember my own school days: the joy of new shoes, fresh clothes, and sharpened pencils. New activities, new friends, and seemingly unlimited possibilities!

I also step back and analyze the new school year and am curious – what will this year hold? What will my kids’ new teachers be like? I wonder what will happen, and what they’ll encounter this year.

I simultaneously resist the new school year. I remember and yearn for when my kids were little, when time was less structured. I reminisce about former favorite teachers and long for familiar traditions of years gone by.

All three of my beliefs are true at once.

What we can learn from change

There’s important information in each way of looking at this example of a change in front of me. It reflects who I am: my values, goals, desires, and the relationships I have.

It’s the same at in our work: we can embrace, analyze or resist change. Each position has value and gives us information to glean.

In this life, change is guaranteed. It’s coming one way or another, no matter what – and we can both be more aware of our experience of change as we go through it, as well as actively decide how we want to engage with change and approach it.

Your Turn

In the Comments below, I’d love to hear your take on navigating change:

What do you love about change?
What do you hate about it?
Where are you embracing, analyzing, or resisting change in your own life or work?

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