ACCEPT CHANGE WITH GRACE

We live in a world of change, yet we act on the basis of continuity.  Change is unfamiliar, it disturbs us.  We try to ignore, avoid and more often resist it.  ‘Continuity’, on the other hand, is familiar, it provides safety and security.  Thus when we plan for the future, we prefer to assume present conditions will continue, but they rarely do.  As a result, we experience unnecessary losses and miss unseen opportunities.  If we could learn to anticipate change and to prepare for it, we could make it work for us, not against us.  Leslie Newbigin in his book One Body, One Gospel, One World writes, "There is a very natural human desire that things should always remain unchanged, but to succumb to this is death."

Alvin Toffler, in his book Future Shock has warned that the future would shock us.  In order to avoid that shock we must learn to master change.  The new approach is to recognize that change is natural and to be expected and that continuity is unnatural and to be suspected.  Hence we have to learn to cope with change that takes place around us.

Most of the stress and pain that we feel when unexpected changes come in our lives is from wishing that things should be different from what they are. When we can accept life as it comes to us, a great deal of the anxiety disappears. One of the worst traps is to let change throw us into a mood of despair and hopelessness. Moods weaken our ability to win the battle. It's important to find ways to keep our mind positive and free of negativity. We should practice to dump our negative mood as soon as we are aware of it, before it can grow too big to handle.  The powerful prescription for moving quickly through life's trials is that we always be “even-minded and cheerful.”

Committing ourselves to being happy in every circumstance is the first and foremost step to achieve this. When we are caught up in the web of change and unexpected incidents that pull us down, we have to learn to strongly affirm our decision to be happy. We may not be able to change our circumstances, but we can control our reactions to them. This simple ability will change our life. Positive reactions bring positive results! For real power, go one step further;­ learn to be grateful for your challenges. Try not to dwell on past events or future plans; stay in the here and now, expanding our hearts to all. Then we can be happy wherever we go and whatever we confront.

Prayer is a powerful help for dealing with change. Deepening devotion to God is the most important thing you can do to prepare for change. When your mind is still, you will find the joy and peace that are deep within you, and you will gain a new perspective on life. Especially important is the practice of meditating every morning and evening. In the morning, meditation prepares you to face the day with inner calmness and joy. At night, it helps you to release your life back into the divine light.

We cannot change the waves of the ocean, but we can learn to swim or float or skate on it.  So are the waves of life; learn to play on it and maser it. Then life becomes a game that you enjoy every moment of it.