Last update: May 04, 2020
Why oppose changes if life is made of them? Change is the only constant, the only security that exists in the universe. Today we are not the same person we were yesterday and we will not be the same tomorrow no matter how hard we try.
There are many circumstances that determine the changes we live, even if we do not realize it. For this, it is essential to overcome the fear of change. There are healthier ways of living life than opposing change. Why then are we often convinced that the past is always better?
Idealizing the past is one of our habits, fruit of the tendency to forget negative things and select only positive memories. This is why we usually remember happy childhood experiences more easily. Also, if we're going through a time of worry or despair, it's easy to compare it to happy times when living seemed easier.
Memory is not trustworthy as it changes constantly. Memories are in fact characterized by a sensitive period in which they can be modified in relation to new events. Thus, we tend to sweeten everything we have experienced and make it resurface every time something bad happens to us.
Keeping this in mind, it is not difficult to understand that our brain he is predisposed to fear changes, whether for good or bad. The main goal of our brain is to feel safe and remain in its comfort zone, as opposed to what happens with changes. How could he not fear the unexpected?
On the other hand, the excess adrenaline we generate to cope with changes is often confused by the brain with feelings similar to lack of confidence or danger. In reality, the adrenaline is released in order to better cope with new situations.
"We never bathe twice in the same river because the river flows continuously and we change constantly too."
-Heraclitus of Ephesus-
So let's find out why the changes, even the most anticipated, bring with them a certain melancholy.
When there is a chance to change, do it
Writer, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau made a very correct statement: things don't change, we change. The flow of life affects us and transforms us, in one way or another. The sooner we accept it, the sooner we will learn to manage change. It is the only way not to be chained to the past or to the illusions of the future, but to live the present in a conscious way.
Because we are not the same people as last year, just as we are not the people we love. Yet the extraordinary thing is that changing doesn't mean we stop loving, whether it's others or ourselves.
“Every morning I looked in the mirror and asked myself - If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? -. When the answer was No for too many consecutive days, I knew I had to change something. "
-Steve Jobs-
Orespond to changes reveals our weaknesses
Mental health depends on a person's ability to evolve and adapt to life circumstances. Staying firmly anchored to primordial patterns or patterns will only serve to build up anguish. Therefore, we must not oppose the experience that teaches us and changes us.
Resisting in the face of things only reinforces them. Freedom of spirit does not go along with resistance dictated by fear.
Avoiding change reveals an intimate desire to stay in the most comfortable place, where there are no fears to face. Changing means facing uncertainty and knowing that it will lead to insecurity and anxiety.
On the other hand, opposing changes may mean that the person does not take responsibility for the problems and prefers to avoid them, or seek the causes outside by blaming others for his mistakes. A decidedly easier route, albeit without real satisfactions.
"When facts change, my opinions change."
-John Maynard Keynes-
