Having Trouble Dealing with Change?

Stress is not only due to events in our lives that we perceive to be negative, stress is actually due to CHANGE, any change, even those we normally consider to be happy events.  With change is the inevitable stress and turmoil that accompanies the human tendency to resist.  We humans tend to be uncomfortable with unknowns and more comfortable with familiar rhythms of life, even when the unknown might bring some good things our way.

But, if we dig our heels in and refuse all change in our lives then we have no room to grow.  Change might be uncomfortable, but change can also provide tremendous opportunities for personal and spiritual growth. 

Dawn Abraham reports that what worked for her was turning the situation around and looking at what each new situation had to teach her.  Instead of feeling resentful because something was changing, she learned to embrace the change by asking herself what she could learn from this situation.  It is not the change but our resistance to change that can cause us pain.

One of the keys to dealing with change is the ability to look at any situation from a positive and exciting perspective.  If this sounds too easy to be true, then test it out to see for yourself just how transformative and powerful that attitude is.

Help yourself to a copy of the Pastoral Care Team Newsletter on the topic of “Change.”  Included in the newsletter is: a “Life Stress Questionnaire” to help assess the amount of stress each of us may be experiencing, the complete article by Dawn Abraham on dealing with change, and an article on “How to Manage Change in a Church". 

Working toward the acceptance of change can be very hard work.  That is why it is enormously comforting to not be alone in the process.  Contact any member of our Pastoral Care Team if you would like some support in this area.