Articles
How to Embrace Change
"Become a student of change. It is the only thing
that will remain constant." - Anthony J. D'Angelo
Do you want to be happy? Do you want to live an abundant and blessed life? Do you long to live at your fullest potential? If your answer is yes, then you are pretty much the same as 99.9% of the population.
Let's face it, who wouldn't want to live an exciting, abundant, blessed, happy life that utilizes every speck of potential you've got? Henry David Thoreau said "Men are born to succeed, not fail." This is why our desires are the same. It is easy to want the great life. In fact, it is natural for all of us. But to have the great life often involves change, and lots of it. That is what separates those that actually live the life they want from those that do not.
Change is constant. Change is all around us. The natural world understands change and is constantly adapting to it. Trees, flowers, oceans, animals, all seem to keep an open door to change and accept it as a natural part of life.
We, on the other hand, often resist change. We get comfortable living by rote when life demands change. We desperately plead with life not to take us in directions that are new and frightening. Yet, in as much as we resist, life persists.
Why change is necessary
"Change your life." That is one of the first things we read in the New Testament. "Change your mind, change your conduct because the kingdom of heaven is at hand." - Matt 3:2. Change is the key ingredient for being what we are meant to be and doing what we are meant to do. In fact, change must precede the abundant life that is available to us in Christ.
Why we must entirely embrace change
The lobster is actually a wonderful example to us of the importance of change. Lobsters live inside a hard, outer shell or exoskeleton. When a lobster has outgrown its existing shell, it splits its old shell in half where the main body meets the tail, and crawls out, leaving behind the old shell.
The hard shell is the lobster's only protection from predators and without it the lobster becomes extremely vulnerable. It can easily be attacked, severely injured or even killed during this time, but the lobster is willing to risk its life in order to grow.
Can you imagine, risking your entire life in order to grow! That is what a lobster does. It entirely embraces change.
We too have a hard, outer shell comprised of fears, insecurities, and comforts that we must shed in order to grow. As we shed our outer shell, we too will become vulnerable to the outside world because we are in a place of transition that is new for us. But, this is what we need to embrace in order to change, grow and be all we are meant to be. It is the only way to get to the next level.
If a lobster never shed its existing skin, living would be pretty painful. The lobster's body would keep growing while its shell stayed the same. The shell would become like a jail for the lobster, and it would constantly keep cramping its growth.
That is how it also is with us. If we do not embrace change and go about shedding our outer shell, the natural process of growth will be cramped and frustrated beneath our existing shell.
So, in order to live the truly alive life that we all seek, let's be like lobsters! Let's be open to change, let's embrace change, love it, get excited about it and allow it to do what it needs to do in us in order to shape us into all we were created to be. And remember...
"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow,
we are not really living." - Gail Sheehy
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(c) 2006 Barb Elyett. Barb Elyett is a canadian singer/songwriter, recording artist, speaker, author and president and founder of Aleta Records. Her articles have been published extensively on and offline and have impacted people all over the world in a positive way. Barb's new album, The Simple Side, has received four Maja Award nominations and is currently receiving airplay and accolades from around the world. Sign up for Barb's FREE So Alive Inside newsletter at www.barbelyett.com.
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