Change

Sometime ago I was speaking with one of my cousins- someone who happens to be a very successful man both in his professional and personal life. We spoke of his job, and while he is a powerful decision-maker and mentor, he also often deals with the inexact science of peoples' psychological issues and how those impact their productivity at work. We talked about how those issues not only affect a person's work environment, but everything else in life as well. So how does one fix such issues...they change. And suddenly, he uttered a phrase that I haven't been able to get out of my mind....

"People aren't afraid of change... they are afraid of loss."

That is to say, we are more afraid of the consequence of change rather than the new act itself. I was astonished. All my professional life I have been focused on helping people find their strength to change, and while I had the concept down pretty well, I was never able to articulate the difficulty in change until I heard his words.

We are afraid to lose...something...anything...that previously brought us comfort, security, ease, manageability, or practicality. We look forward to the new thing we will acquire upon changing, yet have so much trouble letting go of what we must sacrifice to move closer to our goal. The goal could be minute or monumental- that doesn't matter. What matters is what we are leaving behind.

I'm not writing this to lure you into being an emotional pack-rat. I'm not trying to scare you away from reaching for your goals because a sacrifice is inevitable. I'm writing to help you see that what you sacrifice is precisely the thing you have acquired and therefore groomed to be the thing you give up for the next step. If you want to move up the ladder, you must take your foot off of the previous rung...no matter how long your foot rested and no matter the reason for it's long stay. It has served it's purpose and got you ready for your change.

There is no cause for fear.

You can embrace the new thing while you say a greatful and happy farewell to what got you there.

Change is good. Change is opportunity. Change is life. Life is change.