How comfortable are you with change? If you are looking to ‘change your life’ then you must accept that this will involve some ‘change.’ Embracing change and facing up to new challenges is a romantic image that we all like to fantasize about. We like to read about it in books and watch it in movies and picture ourselves as the hero or heroine taking on these new challenges. However, when it comes to reality, we are all different. Not all of us deal with change in the same way. We all have different comfort levels with it, and some of us struggle to embrace it or to get excited by it.
There is something very comforting about the thought of doing something. We happily day dream and imagine how perfect the holiday will be or what a beautiful sunny day it will be for the wedding. For many of us it is more comfortable to let things remain a day dream rather than run the risk that the reality will not live up to our expectations and our fantasy will be spoilt.
Many of us have been at countless workplace ‘goodbye’ presentations where somebody is leaving to go travelling, start a new job, have a baby etc. Many of us return to our work station with a mixture of feelings; some are envious of their former colleague’s new challenges and some are content that they have the security of their daily routine to keep their lives ordered and unchanging.
When we are younger most of us are actively seeking change in order to experience new challenges and possible thrills and adventures. Generally when we get older, change becomes less welcome. However, as the cliché goes; ‘change is inevitable’ and never more so than in today’s fast paced, high technology world.
Are you up for changing your life? Honestly? Whether change excites us or scares us we need to accept it and work with it. If the thought of making a radical change in your life and taking you and your loved ones out of your known comfort zone makes you a little scared, then that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t do it, or that you’re not the right person for the job. It simply means that you’re human.
Most of us will generally commit to change if it brings about worthwhile results. But getting our expectations in the right place is a very important part of making a lifestyle change successful. Like goals, if expectations are too high then they no longer serve as something to aim for, but rather a stick to beat yourself with.
I’m sure you’d agree that understanding nothing is perfect is common sense really. However, when it comes to a life change the unrealistic and futile pursuit of perfection becomes apparent in most of us. We are all looking for something ‘better’ and it takes a while to get a handle of what level of ‘better’ we can realistically expect.
Accepting that your new experience will be made up of both good and bad things is part of the adventure. You ride the good and bad and grow stronger from it, with the highs being fully appreciated as a result of experiencing the lows. Expecting perfection is a fast track to disappointment and a ‘boomerang’ back to where ever it is that you came from. Be aware of the pursuit of perfection. In my own experience, it doesn’t exist and can only lead to disappointment.