Nothing is certain but death and taxes. And change.

Benjamin Franklin almost got it right: yes, death and taxes are certain. I would argue that the one thing we experience with great regularity, and great certainty, is change. Nature is change. Change is natural. The days change, the seasons change. Circumstances change. We change. Our hair grows longer, we might cut it.  Either way it changes. We learn something new, yet another change. 

Often times when we drive the change, we embrace it. Often times, when we experience that the change happens TOus, we resist it. We humans like to be in control, and change that happens TO us rarely leaves us feeling in control. Instead we resist the change or we respond with inertia: we do nothing. Maybe we are just waiting for the change to go away. 

So often we experience change as a loss. Regardless of merit, we hold on to the known. We might know that a situation (a job, a relationship) isn’t good for us: we are not thriving. But it is known. At least we know what to expect, and possibly we have developed strategic coping mechanisms to navigate what is hard. And we justify staying in the status quo. We are scared. 

What would it take to think of the change as an opportunity for gain? What new possibilities and opportunities can we create if we stop denying ourselves change?

Change is inevitable, growth is optional. How do you choose to grow?