By Deborah Adams
Change is something you either love or hate. Whether we like it or not, most of us deal with change because we have no choice as change seems inevitable in all stages of life. We are given small ‘tests’ of change daily; a detour makes you take a different road home or you have to choose an ice cream flavor other than your favorite because the store was out of yours. Maybe you have big change to deal with like being out of a job or having to move out of your home, city, or even your personal relationship. Those can be major life changes that often we perceive as negative or stressful. Sometimes we dwell on this perception, and if we take this approach to change, change will be just that – uncomfortable and stressful. But maybe, just maybe, change was meant to come into your life for a reason. I personally believe in the phrase “there are no coincidences”; and that everything happens exactly the way it was meant to in that very moment in time. That may be a Buddhist approach to life, but it sure takes the stress out of life’s ‘wrenches’.
Let’s say you are laid off from work. You could respond in a number of ways by dwelling on how you are going to get by, complaining about your situation to everyone you see, sitting in front of the TV for hours wondering what you are going to do now, asking yourself, “How did this happen? Why did this happen to me?” However, if you choose to take a ‘wellness’ approach to those questions – it is really very simple: the universe; AKA God, your higher source, the supreme ultimate (whatever label you are most comfortable with), most likely has a plan for you, whether you understand that plan or not.
You know the famous saying: “Hindsight is 20/20”. In my many life experiences, which sometimes felt overwhelming, painful, even horrific, I would try to look past the clouds and remind myself that time moves in continual motion and does not stand still. This means, for any situation, no matter how good or bad, we can view it as truly only temporary, a transitional time, something not worth dwelling on but rather being a part of in that very moment. Instead of complaining or becoming overwhelmed by a situation you find uncomfortable, “Embrace it”. Give yourself permission to cry or pout or get some anger out and release that blast of energy that gets trapped in your physical body by stress. But please, for your own health and wellness, set a time limit on the ‘releasing’. Some people ‘dwell’ on their situation for days, months, sadly, even years. Dwelling can form disease. Opening to change can free disease. Once you have let go of the ‘old’, there comes a time to welcome the new. I’ve learned that the more open I am to “going with the flow” rather than constantly fighting and resisting change, that things always seem to work out for my best interest.
Some of us may have encountered tremendous amounts of change. Some changes feeling devastating beyond comprehension, but if you have enough courage, patience, and gratitude to flow through those challenging times, wonderful experiences surface out of them, experiences we could never have dreamed. That’s because “flowing” through life most often leads you where you were meant to be in the first place, before we followed the suggestions of others or did ‘what we were supposed to do’. Living a life of “Flow” opens doors, pathways and gifts that we were closed to before, even if they were right in front of us all along.
“Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should”. There was a period in my life where I read that saying every day upon waking and before I closed my eyes each night. It was my comfort, knowing that as long as I have faith in the simple fact that things are in constant motion, why should I waste time in a “dwelling” state of being? Life is about living, it’s about experiences, about spontaneity, about fun. I do not believe we were put on this earth just to ‘get through our time here’. We are here to experience life and all it has to give. All the people we are meant to meet, all the places we are suppose to see, all the things we can try and do – that’s living! And maybe by losing a job or relationship or home, we are able to have a door open to a world we never even knew existed. Even if it might look scary or ‘not as good’ as before, if you open your mind and flow with the change, when you reflect back with your 20/20 hindsight vision you will realize you became wiser and happier, more full of life and love, and a filled you with a spirit that is free.
Embrace a world of change and receive true health and wellness. Open your heart and your mind to the journey of life and flow in the direction life leads you; live in the moment and enjoy Living Wellness.