Every action has a reaction. Every move has a counter. Every choice has a consequence. Life is full of these moments. These times when you come to forks in the road. These times when decisions are made and change ensues.
Change is difficult for most. It is often daunting to enter foreign territory, as the newness of it all leaves us feeling vulnerable. Moving from the familiar to the unknown can cause stress, worry and anxiety.
These feelings can give change a bad name.
However, change isn’t actually the culprit…we are.
Who could do this to me?
What did I do to deserve this?
When did I become so stupid?
Where did I go wrong?
Why did this happen to me?
How could I let this happen?
Sound familiar? The old blame-game. We turn into our own worst enemies, especially when change rears its head.
Our desire to swim in familiar waters and to know just where the shallow waters end, and the deep end begins, causes us to balk the new tide pool forming at the base of the water fall.
But we can work on this.
I believe that meaning is what drives us and what can ultimately keep us going, especially in the face of adversity. This is even more so true, when the difficulty is actually coming from within, in the form of resistance to change.
When change happens – and it indubitably will – there needs to be an adjustment in the mind to be able to apply meaning to the shift. If we are constantly fighting against change, we are basically exhausting our energies in a futile struggle, leaving us feeling drained and vulnerable and making any change a formidable undertaking.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
We must search for the brightness in the change. Instead of looking to blame someone or become victims, we need to shift our thought process and search for meaning, which will allow us to grow.
Who else will benefit from the alteration?
What lesson can be drawn from this shift?
When can we test our newfound adaptability?
Where else can we see improvements?
Why did this need to happen now?
How can we grow from it?
When we embrace the change, instead of fighting it, we can get so much more out of it… and out of life.
There is an added bonus for those of us who like to be in the driver’s seat: in the search for meaning, not only are we putting a new, positive spin on something we can’t control, but we are also refocusing on the only thing that we really have any command over: our reaction to this change.
Purpose is power.
Search for it always, with Grit&Grace.
R.
Grit&Grace 
❤️ Tried to comment but for some reasons the firewall won’t let me access the website..
Love you,
JP
Sent from my iPhone
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Brilliantly written Ruth! And the photo is stunning. You must have some Arless photographer in you. We certainly have to shift gears a lot in life. There is no such thing as automatic pilot! I love and admire you. Mom 💕🌹🥰
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Thank you for your (as always) thoughtful Grit&Grace contribution, Ruth.
Great advice, Chère Maître!
Interesting that you chose April 9 to teach us about embracing change!
At a time of the outbreak of another senseless war in Europe your advice is a useful reminder that that we are all accountable to put our best efforts into managing change and help each other turn all the negatives into sustained benefits.
On April 9, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Denmark. The small Scandinavian country was no match for the invaders and the danish army capitulated after a couple of hours of combat.
In 1949, after learning some painful lessons, 12 countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States signed a treaty promising to have each others back if some idiot madman would start another world war. Indeed, “Organisation du traité de l’Atlantique nord” (OTAN) aka North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was borne because we had learned an important lesson about political despots and their dangerous habits. Since then, NATO’s motto (Animus in consulendo liber): – Latin: “A mind unfettered in deliberation” has been embraced by many other nations.
In fact, when Russian dictator, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin ordered the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, NATO’s membership had grown to 30 nations.
Over the next few months we will be able to determine if the last 73 years have taught us enough to avoid another world war. – Even more important: “Have we learned enough to be able to build a world strong enough to ensure lasting peace?”
It would serve us well to remind ourselves that lasting peace is not limited to Ukraine. More than 111,000 people have lost their lives because of the war in Yemen that has raged since 2015. The todo list also includes elimination of the concentration camps in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and securing the inalienable rights of Afghan females to all levels of education of their choice.
We have other challenges waiting, making the peace-to-do-list look a bit daunting.
… but there is hope.
We have learned a couple of things since 1945:
Internet and cell-phones have made it easier to communicate and more difficult for despots to hide the truth. Conversely the same technology offers hate-mongers an outlet to sell their wares. Therefore stellar communication is not a solution, it is an opportunity.
Many of our leaders in 2022 are well educated female professionals providing a much needed nurturing climate for maintaining peaceful coexistence. Geopolitics and leadership in 1940 was a male-dominated sport!
Our financial world is much better regulated, making it easier for us to isolate and constrain malevolent war-mongers.
The benefits of international trade in the 21st century fade quickly with the onset of armed conflicts, incentifying all efforts to safeguard global peaceful conduct.
Countries of all sizes show determination to respect human rights. For example, a couple of days ago Switzerland, our oldest currently functional democracy, voted in favour of the punitive suspension of Russia from the UN Human Rights Commission. Switzerland has a long tradition for maintaining neutrality, so It would have been easy for the Swiss UN Ambassador (Pascale Baeriswyl) to abstain from voting, but no – she had no problem voting in favour of kicking out the warmongering nation! – Bravo!
Thanks again for your Grit&Grace gift, Ruth – Keep up the great work.
Dad
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Indeed. Mindfulness is power. Power to embrace all changes!
Well written!
Nice pic also!
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I need more details at this stage of my life (70s) when it comes to change. I ask many questions, of myself and of the situation. Acceptance of change, whether good or not so good, takes longer now. Unfortunately, I also build mountains out of molehills; so that when the change has happened, there is often a relief that it wasn’t so bad as I had imagined it might be. Change shakes up our life and keeps us alert. We have no time for complacency when change is afoot. It’s good to have options too. Loved this post, Ruth.
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