September 1st, 2011
How To Deal With Change
If you’ve ever wondered how to deal with change, you’ll want to read on for an uncommon way to handle transitions.
When big changes happen in your life, you might start to think EVERYTHING has to change.
But it DOESN’T.
You’re not sure why, but you suddenly have the urge to make alterations to different areas of your life–even ones that don’t need fixing at all.
For instance…people make long distance moves all the time. I’ve made more than I can even count – wait – I’m thinking no less than 6 were coast to coast.
There are changes that naturally happen when you move:
- you forward your mail
- you shut off your cable, etc.
- you quit your job (or leave it or whatever)
- you change schools
- you find a new hair dresser…
- you say good bye to friends
I mean, you usually start a completely new life…
But not me.
My job is completely virtual, so I didn’t have to quit.
Many of my friends and family already live quite a long distance from me and we’re used to staying connected by phone, facebook, and email.
The entire move was handled by the company where my husband now works, so I didn’t have a ton of the “change” work to handle.
I still have my little Samoilov brood to take care of and to take care of me.
Out of all the craziness of a move, the one thing that kept confusing me was my job!
It felt so odd to be changing so many things in my daily life – to be experiencing all new people, places, and environment, then to come back to my work and know where I was and who I was working with.
There was a sense of stability…that just didn’t fit! I didn’t know how to deal with it!
So, what’s the point?
The point is a simple one, actually. When you are struggling for how to deal with change in your own life, look for unlikely spots of stability.
Once I realized that my passion, focus, and work (that I LOVE) hadn’t changed, I was able to settle in…and not feel quite so alone.
I bet if you look at everything that’s changing in your own life, there’s probably at least one thing that hasn’t altered a bit.
Hang on to it.
Let it give you that stability and grounding you need right now…
Hey Anne,
Glad you are settling in and finding a way to adjust to the changes. Your post reminded me of something that I noticed after a few big moves of my own. The first big move seemed to take me the longest to adjust to. After about a year every one & every thing started looking familiar – as if I’d lived there for years. The next big move took me about 9 months to get that deja vu feeling of everyone starting to look familiar (mere strangers walking on the street that I KNEW I didn’t know). The next move seemed to take a bit less time to have that same deja vu feeling of familiarity.
It’s weird that I noticed that. I remember the deja vu feelings so well, and recognized it as a true settling in. I’ve always been curious if others have experienced this and how long it took them. I bet it depends on how much they get out in their town!
It’s so awesome that your “job” can go with you!!!!
You know, Melody, I feel truly blessed that I’m finally in that space where I make my own stability. I”m not saying it’s always smooth sailing and I still get emotional thinking about the huge difference between LA and Seattle, but it’s nice when not everything has to be totally uprooted. But I bet if I looked even deeper I’d be able to find more things that anchor me.