May 1, 2010

The only constant is change. When I hear this quote from Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, I get the distinct feeling that he was looking into a crystal ball at my life! It is definitely true that in life and in the universe, the only constant is change, and at times this can make us feel like we are dancing on shifting sand.

Just when you think you know which foot to move in which direction, suddenly the terrain has altered, and you have to re-think your next step. While this can be disconcerting, and at times downright stressful, by accepting the fact that we never know what is going to happen next, we can learn to approach life as the great adventure that it can be.

Sometimes in life, we are best served by throwing away the map that we have drawn, and just taking the steps that our hearts guide us to take as we discover how the path is forming in front of us.

An affirmation that I find helps me a lot at times when the shifting sands seem to be blurring my view of the road ahead is this; “the next step on my path is now becoming clear.” I have been known to take long walks while silently reciting this as a mantra, over and over. And, you know what? Eventually the next step does become clear, even if I muddle along in the dark for a while.

There are times in our lives when we seem to experience even more change than usual. While these times may seem to be difficult and unsettling, they are also opportunities for great personal growth. The opposite of change is stagnation, and when we are stagnating and not moving or changing, we are also not growing.

As challenging and uncomfortable as accelerated change can be, if we can recognize that this rapid change can also bring rapid growth, the ‘growing pains’ we may experience from a lot of change can be easier to endure.

In accepting that in life, the only constant is change, we can work on developing our flexibility in adjusting to ever-shifting circumstances. Keeping an open heart and an open mind is essential to coping well with change. If we have fixed beliefs of how things ‘should be,’ we are setting ourselves up for endless frustration.

Realizing that the ebb and flow of life circumstances will not follow the path that we may want them to follow, the best way to cope with a life of constant change is to learn to flow with those changes, rather than trying to fight against them.

While change is not something I always find easy, my life seems to have such a strong element of constant change that I have definitely had a lot of practice in learning to adapt and adjust.

Just recently, Ian and I decided to undertake a new project which would have required a lot of time and focus. I realized that if we committed to this project, I would have to put less time into other areas of my life for a while.

I made the difficult decision of spending less time on my writing, and I felt okay about that choice. Even though encouraging others through writing and personal interaction is the thing I am most passionate about, I was prepared to temporarily give less time and attention to doing this, in order to pursue what we felt was the right venture for us.

As it turns out, due to various factors, we are not going ahead with our new project at this stage. Despite the fact that our plans seem to be on a roller-coaster of change, I am happy about this latest development. If the project had gone ahead, I would have put my heart and soul into making it a success. I had accepted the necessity of putting less time into other aspects of my life, but now that plans have changed again, I am delighted that I will be able to focus more of my time and energy on doing what I love best.

Considering that in our lives, the only constant is change, the best we can do is discover how to surf the waves, learn from the ups and downs that we encounter, and enjoy the ride.

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