Why we fight, avoid, or resist change? Life’s list of changes goes on and on, but below are a few that come to mind.
Schedule changes - they don’t even have to be immediate or unexpected. I just don’t like them at all.
People changes - staffing at places I go to often, family readjustments (like divorce), new neighbors, new coaches
Change in job duties - reduction OR addition of duties, processes, locations
Road detours
“New ownership” at restaurants
World changes like Pluto isn’t a planet, but then it is, but then it isn’t
“New meeting location” announcements for anything I’m involved in
Updates in phones
Rearrangement of stores I go to often (like the grocery store)
Expectations or regulations
The funny thing is, in the end I actually like a lot of types of change. It’s just the initial reaction that’s hard. It took a while, but I have gotten better at talking myself through changes and realize sometimes I like the new situation. Honestly, it simply comes down to patience.
The “I’ll get used to it, just bear with me while I adjust” doesn’t work for everything, but it gets me through most transitional phases. When work calls to tell me I’m teaching a different class next semester, rather than resist I try to ask questions to process the change, then I wait a day or so to think through the ‘pros’ of the new situation. By then usually I’ve accepted the change.
Accepting change doesn’t mean liking it. It just means dealing with it so it doesn’t consume our thoughts.