Does this word scare the bejeebers out of you? Join the crowd. You are not alone. Change is one of those things that drags us many times – no, most times – out of our comfort zone and into the unknown. Yet this fear is inborn it seems. [my wife and I were on a walk alongside the peaceful Tennessee River this morning, and for some reason I said that the main motivator for all of humanity is fear. But I digress.] And for good reason. Fear is a survival instinct and we need. Ironically, in most cases it keeps us safe. (Further digression)

How we dislike change though. Every year Apple “gives” us a new operating systems. We open up our screen and there, staring us in the face, are changes. Ahhh! A restaurant changes their menu. What? I liked the old menu. Clothes – it seems inevitable that every time I like a pair of pants, or socks, or even shoes, the next time I go to buy it, it no longer exists. The style has changed.

Companies change hands and with that comes more changes. Staff is let go, or hired. Service gets worse, or better (rarely). Millions of people are affected by the change.

In my life, and I’m sure in yours, there are hundreds of changes. We start out as a baby. Cared for and pampered. Then childhood – a time of discovery. Our minds were sponges then. Slowly, but surely, we start to adopt routines. And then they change. Some of us get married. Some have kids. And the changes come in a torrent then. And it’s painful. Then a career. Or many careers. Each chocked full of changes to which we have to adapt.

Adapt. That’s a word I have come to embrace. I love change. This is neither good nor bad. Unfortunately it doesn’t help me live in the moment. I am always looking for “what’s next?”. Moving around a lot as a child I had to learn to adapt. We lived in Illinois, New York, then California, then New York again. All this while I was a small child. Then my Dad decides to be a missionary and we head south to Brazil, where I’ll spend the next 9 years of my adolescence. Major change. Different culture. Different language. Strange food.

So you adapt. No sense in resisting. You know what they say – “What we resist persists.”

I wish I could help you with your changes, but, alas, I can’t. They come at us everyday. Some make our life better. I like those. Some come unexpectedly, such as an illness. And everyone close to you has to adapt. All I can say is that it’s better to learn to enjoy change rather than dread it. Dread is a useless emotion. It doesn’t change anything. It just stresses you till it happens or ends. Since you can’t avoid change, how about giving change a chance? Give it a good once over. Understand it and adapt. Instead of dread, look at the change as an opportunity. Maybe the next pair of pants will be better. Maybe your next job will be something you have been longing for.

In short, make change your friend. It’s hard, but give it a try. I think you’ll sleep better at night.