Change itself is a small word. But its impact on our lives is huge. By definiton it is the act or process when something becomes different (external changes) or someone transforms into something else (internal changes). Change could be both good and bad, depending on the circumstances like situation, people, timing etc. You probably have heard these lines more than once in your life, ”You have changed”, ”You have to change”, ”I know change is hard for you but it is important” etc. Some of these phrases mean positive while others mean negatively.

In this post I am going to talk about postive side of change and how to adjust with it. Before I go into the theoritical discussion I should share few personal moments of my life.

Personal Experience:

I myself have been moving a lot, one town to another, one educational instituion to another (doesn’t mean I got kicked out though, I just completed my studies and went to another instituion like school to college to university etc.). When I was a child I did not notice this very much, probably because as a child we aren’t meant to think deepy and enjoy this sweet ride what we call life. But since I turned 18, I could feel it even more.

Changes that not only occur around me but also that occur inside of me. And as an overthinker I cannot ignore this fact, and the uncomfortable thing about it is, you can’t predict it. You will never know when it happens. And during our bad phases we realize it the most. And when you are living the happiest moments of your life, the change occurs and everything around you turn into your worst nightmare, especially if you can’t adjust youself with it.

Example-

One good example I can think of the external change is, there was a pond in front of my house. When I moved there, few years ago it was filled with soil and sand and it turned into a solid ground. And before I left I noticed there was a storage house upon it.

And if I talk about internal change then when I was a kid I used to root for the heroes, I am sure we all did. Then during my teenage years I was fascinated by anti-heros, the morally gray characters. Now a days I like to see the villains, their psychologies, what made them chose the negative.

I myself struggle even to this very day to adjust and adapt to it. But there are some ways that can help to ease the stress that change gives you. Before that…..

Change is Necessary

One question arises in our mind, Why change is important? and why it happens even if we don’t want it?

It is because the world that we live in is contantly evolving. This evolution is sometimes so small that no one notices it and sometimes so big the it shakes the whole world. But it is constantly happening. This can be said for the change that occurs around us.

But what about changes in ourselves, it occurs when our mind receives new information or we experience something new that causes a change in us.

Ways to adjust with Change:

Now that we know why it occurs, lets discuss how to deal with it. There are few ways that I learned from my experience.

1. Take it Slow-

Taking it is mostly applies when our surrounding is changing, like moving to a new place, changing our childhood house. You need to give yourself some time to adapt to the fact that you are leaving your old place. And you won’t be able to come back here. Or when you leave your house, the fact that never in your life you will be able to live in that house again. Initially we get excited because moving means travelling and who doesn’t like to travel, meeting new people, experiencing new things etc.

But when we get settled in our new place we slowly starts to feel what we lost and what it meant for us. Old friends, that old road that we used to walk on, the trees around our house. Everything small detail that we never noticed before comes to haunt us. Slowly feel the emotions, don’t bottle them up.

2. Keep Mementos-

Memento is an object to remember something or someone. When you are feeling homesick or missing someone you can use it. In the modern world when you miss someone, you usually video call them, text or simply just call them. But what about the ones who left you or you left them, or someone who died. Even though we don’t want to or can’t talk to them due to various reasons there are some days when they are in our mind. And we can’t get rid of those thoughts.

Mementos are for these times, holding these things or objects or keeping them close to us, give us a relief even if its just a little bit. A memento can be anything like a person’s clothes or any accessories that they used or furniture from you old house etc.

3. Keep yourself Busy-

Third is to keep yourself busy as much as possible. Busy yourself with work, spend time with your closed ones, can be family frineds or if you have a pet. Walk in the nature like in the park or go for a run. Keeping yourself busy and staying outside doesn’t give our mind the time to think about memories. Because we tend to overthink when we are alone.

4. Think about the Future-

Fourth would be focus on the future. In one of my posts I have shared why past is imporatant. But when you are dealing with change you should stop thinking about the past even the present and only think about the future. Whenever change overwhelms me, I only keep thinking what this means for my future. And how I can use this change for my benefit. But I should also mention but it can be completely different for you and we all have different coping mechanisms.

Conclusion:

Change is inevitable. And as much as I hate to say it, it happens for good. It hurts nonetheless but it gives us the power to walk the outside world. Without change you will become an ancient artifact of a museum and I am sure you don’t want that. So I would say rather than fighting or struggling, adapt and adjust yourself with it.