Simon Says, "Raise Your Right Hand if You Like Change."

“We are the change we’ve been waiting for.” (President Barack Obama -- 2008 Presidential Election Campaign)

Change is THE inevitable constant in life.

It will definitely occur in an indefinite measure and unknown variety of ways in a person’s lifetime.

And, the more influential the person; the more likely that person is to experience ongoing and constant changes in his or her life.

Just as a master surfer knows to adapt his or her riding of numerous and varied tidal waves, so must the influential individual be ready to adapt and change when interacting with a broad and diverse scope of people in a variety of settings and situations; spread over the course of an uncertain amount of time.

Like the tidal waves, no two changes are “identical twins.”

Some changes are the outcomes of successful experiences, while others may result from failures.

The need for an immediate or urgent “call-to-action” may take place to promote something positive that will manifest in the form of a change; just as the acceptance of and complacency about something inherently negative in our situations can suddenly trigger an adjustment, adaptation, or change.

In keeping with the tidal wave thought: one person’s “success” or positive represents another person’s “failure” or negative… and, something requiring immediate and urgent action by one individual may signal an everyday acceptable occurrence in the life of another.

We have to individually understand and personalize change well enough so that we quickly recognize which “change factor” we’re dealing with at any given time, and in any given place – change is ever- evolving, which requires from each of us an ever-evolving response to change…

Pause for a second to think about someone, anyone, you know who has never experienced any type of change in his or her lifetime.

Okay, time’s up. We don’t have to spend much time even considering this unrealistic thought because we all know and have observed that change is a simplistically complicated and constant part of everyone’s life experience.

So, if we know and have lived this reality factor with such certainty, why do we sometimes resist, run from, fear, deny, argue against, become saddened/depressed and discouraged by, or try to stop change from working itself out in our individual realities?

Wouldn’t being able to accept and adapt to changes add extreme value and sustained meaning to each change experience?

If change is constant, why isn’t our response to change always just as constant?

A host of reasons that can range from social, emotional, mental, physical, habitual, biological, temporal, financial, political, philosophical, intra-personal, inter-personal, generational, technological, etc.; might be legitimately listed as rationales for the occasional or frequent resistance to change.

But, if teaching (or forcing!) ourselves to willingly adapt to change will likely bring both a value-added and meaning-added component to every change experience; it is probably in our best interest to move out of the way when the “Change Locomotive” comes rolling through our lives so that we don’t get rolled over and completely destroyed in the process.

So, when “Simon Says, raise your right hand if you like change;” hopefully, a greater number of us will see the importance and inevitability of responding accordingly.

And, we’ll be able to confidently and with great certainty look CHANGE in the face; and just like Nike, we will say: Just do it…

After all, that change may very well provide us with just the right second chance we need in order to excel and reach great dimensions of bountiful and sustained success.

Let’s just all be mindful that along with each phase of our individual constant life changes may come a change in some of our surroundings, situations; and even some of the people who were part of an earlier period of change.

But, that’s perfectly fine as long as we remember to adapt and adjust accordingly; just as the master surfer adapts and adjusts to each new and different tidal wave -- we just have to change with the tides and the times.

Sharon M. Biggs, M.A.
Educational Leader & Ever-Evolving Change Agent

http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/change/

http://www.womentowomen.com/womenshealth/howtomakelifechanges.aspx?