Do you like change? I tend to enjoy it and even call for it into my life regularly. I realize though that people are usually averse to change. We often say that human beings are creatures of habits. In reality we tend to call for a change of circumstances, as we meet regular bouts of adversity. We are often faced with trials and tribulations that seem utterly hopeless. We fight over and over again and yet we seem to always get the same results. We want change, by which we usually mean a change in our life or a change in the world. We cannot hope for transformation and wait for change to bring us different outcomes.
I always looked at change as an external factor that we embrace or refute. Real change actually comes from within, be it change in our lives or change in the world. Challenges are not external; they are internal. As we start seeing the source of our personal and world problems more clearly, we begin to understand how to best affect change. As we seek to move beyond our conflicts and obstacles, we need to turn to our thought patterns, our behaviours – not that of our neighbours; our own! The way we always look at things, the way we choose the same path day after day, year after year, our way of life will make sure we meet the same results over and over again.
It takes courage to see the root of your challenges sitting within yourselves. It takes bravery to question your choices, to uproot your ways of thinking and to seek innovation. These perspectives may have served you well. They may no longer be meeting your needs today. You are changing just as fast as the world is, but you may not realize it and continue to feed yourself with the old stories and dress with your childhood clothes: they no longer fit! You are the change you wish to see. The results you are seeking are closer than you think.
The key to making change is to accept that we are the change and to embrace ourselves fully. Massive transformation is afoot in our world, as a result of a tiny change – a change in perspective. Changing one thing can actually change everything. It only takes a new glance at the world. It is no longer possible to stand up to the acceleration of change, but it only takes a blink of an eye to be riding that wave.