Constant Change is Here to Stay

Change is one of the few constants in our lives. Growing, learning, aging, forgetting; to be alive is to change.

Change is especially fast, and growing faster, for us. People are changing jobs and careers, changing addresses and relationships, changing spiritual traditions at an ever faster rate. As we change our lives, those changes affect the organizations in which we participate.

We fear change. We mourn what we have lost. We regret changes we have made. We recognize some changes as pivotal, some as necessary. We try to prepare for significant changes, but we are often caught by surprise.

Some changes require that we make even more changes in response. For some, we may need to learn new skills; for others, we may need to set aside what we have learned or believed over a period of years.

We find some changes risky, some exhilarating. Some changes motivate or inspire us, some overwhelm and deflate us.

I recently made a change which I had anticipated, but which still caught me by surprise. I have posted before about the ways my iPad and iPhone have affected my life; a couple weeks ago I took the big step. I changed from a PC to am iMac.

I have always had a PC, never used an iMac before. Based on what I have learned by using my iPad and iPhone, I was looking forward to it with eager anticipation. With all of the “it will be great, right out of the box,” and “it is easy, so intuitive” echoing in my mind, I went for it. It was a real challenge for me.

I felt as if everything I have learned about using a computer, especially over the last few years, was a waste of time. I was very anxious, doubting that I would ever be able to use this thing. Change made me frustrated, angry, despairing. With some help, I began to realize that it might not be the end of everything; things might eventually be even better than before.

Change, whether personal or organizational, can be threatening, frustrating, and lead us to doubt ourselves. We all need help to stay connected to our core values and vision as we navigate the contant change in which we live. Things might even turn out to be better.

What changes could you use some help navigating?

[Image by ayomide!]