*Both classes are approximately 3 hours long, and are held on separate dates. Check the Community Classes Calendar for times and locations.

“Embracing Change: Accepting the Ever-evolving YOU”  

We’ve all faced change, both willingly and not-so-willingly. We have grown from infants to adults maximizing change. We have progressed from the inability as babies to communicate our needs, to spew forth elaborate vocabularies capable of capturing the most distinct nuances in language. We may even converse in more than one language.

So change is not something totally foreign to us, nor is it something to be feared.

It is a normal aspect of life; and if we are not continually changing in someway, whether noticeable or not, something is very wrong because we are designed to change—to continually evolve in consciousness and conscience. Only a person who has never looked in a mirror over the past decade would think they had not changed in some way—meaning noticing extra accumulated weight in certain spots, those new wrinkles when we laugh or frown, or those gray hairs shooting straight up like little exclamation marks atop our heads.

Our cells are continually replenishing themselves as old cells serve their purposes and then die. Our brains are continually inputting stimuli from our many sensing organs, as our emotions roll through daily highs points and low points. We are creatures of change. Change occurs all around us and within us. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem like much is changing in our lives until a major upheaval knocks us off balance and we struggle to stabilize our reeling heads, but some type of change was with us all along. We just didn’t notice it at the time.

Are you the same person you were 10 years ago? What about 20 years ago? Do you value the same things? Do you frequent the same places? Do you see the same people you did then? Are your closest relationships the same stable and steady anchors they once seemed? Does your spouse still look at you the same way he or she once did? Are you happy with the changes that have occurred to your mind and body over the last 10-20 years? Is there something you would prefer more or less of? Is there some aspect of your life you wish would change but hasn’t seemed to do so no matter how much you try to change it yourself? 

When you think about it, you are no stranger to the seeming advantages and disadvantages of change.

"Exercise 2:

Form small groups of 3-5 people and discuss for 10 minutes the changes in life that most of us had in common during the late teen years to early 20’s period of life. Consider these questions:

Exercise 3:

We now recognize that change has been our constant companion throughout our lives, so there is no need to fear it. Change is what we do—people change, situations change, relationships change because WE are constantly changing as we evolve through our experiences.

We have described situations where the changes we experienced were positive and in some instances the changes we endured did not feel too pleasant. Anyone who has some type of loss can attest to that, whether it was a loved-ones death or a divorce, or some other emotionally racking situation.

Sometimes change means giving up something or someone we treasure. Sometimes we are forced to face life alone and on our own, and amazingly, those times can be some of our greatest growth experiences because we develop seldom-used skills and further enhance that connection to our hidden, inner resources.

Suddenly, with that realization of inner resources helping to guide us, we find that we are capable of most anything we attempt—if we work hard enough and give it full focus. We can become the people we always wanted to be, once we get out of our own way, once we stop sabotaging ourselves at every glorious moment ready for change. This is where we learn to “Embrace Change” because once we are capable of throwing ourselves into a determined, desired pattern of change, our world opens up like a budding rose. Don’t like your life?  Then change it!  Don’t like your job? Then find one you would like. Don’t have time to call your own with your constantly busy family? Create that time. Have too many responsibilities that are pulling you under as you gasp for breath? Remove some of them and reorganize the others to eliminate the ballast. All is possible if you embrace change. Change is not the enemy here. Change is the friend who helps you to be all that you could be. It gives you opportunity to reframe a situation and step into a new path.

►Dissatisfaction Warns of Needed Change

One of the largest indicators of needed change is “dissatisfaction.” If you feel dissatisfied about some aspect of your life, your body and mind are screaming for change. Stop ignoring warning flags or they will become physical symptoms. Nothing slows us down faster than an illness or injury. And nothing brings on an illness faster than a rundown immune system from being overworked or overstressed.

How well do you take care of yourself?  Are you as good to you as you are to the rest of your family? If not, why not? Do you need help with some aspect of your life? Ask an appropriate person or agency for it. How good to anyone, including yourself, will you be if you are flat on your back, hardly able to move for a year? Illnesses and injuries that totally debilitate you are the ones that really straighten out your priory list in short order. And sometimes, if we are particularly stubborn, it takes a complete knockdown punch to help us refocus toward healthier lifestyles and to reassign for ourselves, more quiet, meditative time.

So for Part Two of “Embracing Change,” we are going to do two primary things: the first is to identify what we wish to change about ourselves or our lives, and the second thing is to determine how to bring about that needed change.

Here's a brief summary of some basic questions related to recognizing "needed changes" in your life. The class offers answers to these questions, but we will give you the on-line head-start to start researching the answers for yourself. Then join us in class, and share your findings.

In class:   "Answer these questions briefly and aloud as a group."

1. What attitude does it take to make a change in your life?
2. If you don’t have the self-confidence to create change for yourself, how can you build it? List some confidence builders.
3. Where can you find help to better understand what needs to change in your life? If all you see are problems with no solutions, where do you start your search for answers?
4. What professional agencies or professions are geared to assist your desired changes?
5. What support groups are available at little or no cost to help you find answers?
6. Community colleges often offer informative sessions on job counseling or life choice changes for little or no money. What other sources of information are available for career changes or continuing education classes?
7. Where can you find healthy lifestyle guidelines?
8. Where can you find parenting guidelines and suggested activities for children at various stages of life?
9. What other spiritual options are available besides belonging to a church group?
10. What activities are available within your area? Where would you find that information posted?

No matter what needs to change in our lives, what we first need to do is acknowledge that we are willing to change and further commit ourselves to creating that change in our lives.

But if a needed change involves our direct relationship with another person, keep in mind that we cannot change another person. They have to desire to change themselves. However, we can change how we act and more importantly, how we REACT to the actions of another. And for that to occur, we may need some guidance from counselors or support groups to help us reframe our situations.

Some changes may be very difficult and require professional or legal guidance to help us determine where our best options lie. Others will be as simple as getting up an extra hour earlier to exercise before heading off to work, or eating more nutritional foods or to cut in half what we normally eat in a day. Some changes may be to watch less television and instead spend the time playing a family board game with the kids, or going on exploratory walks in nature every chance we have. It may be a double-duty change as simple as walking our lunchtimes, rather than eating, which provides exercise and lowers food intake. Change doesn't need to be a grueling ordeal if we view it more like an exciting adventure into a beautiful, new way of life.

Here are the proper attitudes for change. Say these everyday and throughout the day as needed:

1.  Change is possible.

2.  I welcome this needed change.

3.  This change will be a definite improvement to the quality of my life.

4.  No temporary setback can stop me from pursuing the desired change.

5.  I need no one’s emotional support for this change other than my own, and I will NOT let me down.

6.  I deserve this change.

And for an added extra here on-line, we'll give you a Brief List of “Habit Breakers”:

1. If you feel like vegetating on the couch after a meal, walk somewhere instead.
2. If you feel the need to smoke a cigarette, chew on carrot sticks the size of cigarettes. Keep a bag handy in the refrigerator.  Keep a small bag in your pocket wherever you go. Better to be considered a health nut than to be ostracized with the “standing-outside-in-the-snow” crowd on breaks.
3. If you feel like eating a second helping, stop and walk up and down a staircase, then see if you are still hungry. If you have that second helping you won’t be able to walk up the stairs, and if you can’t walk up stairs after eating, you are overfilling your stomach, and that can lead to serious health problems. At work, if you have a choice between walking 3 flights of stairs or taking the elevator, choose the stairs unless you have a serious health problem. (Always consult your doctor before beginning a serious diet and exercise change.)
4. If you have a sweets craving, carry a notebook wherever you go and jot down the exact time and place the craving hits you. If you can replace that sweets addiction with vegetables and fruits, you will soon notice your desire for “sweets” lessening until you can better control or eliminate it. Refined sugars are addictive, while simple fruit sugars are nourishing.
5. Feeling argumentative? Don’t give in to those “I’ll show you who’s right,” tendencies. Sometimes it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong when the argument is more over jockeying for power than accuracy. Tame that ego. Tame that temper. Attend an anger management class. Many are offered free at local libraries, as are other forms of public service information sessions.
6. Try meditation as a stress reducer. Another added benefit is that while you are attempting to maintain focus on your breath without thinking, the thoughts that float back in will be very revealing about where your true attention lies. Pay more attention to the replay feature in your head during waking hours and listen to what you really tell and retell yourself throughout an average day.
   • If your thoughts are continually negative, it is likely your attitude will follow your thoughts. Occasionally note the positives around you.
   • If you are feeling victimized by others, perhaps you are acting like a victim with those you encounter rather than supporting your own views and stances. Stand up for your own views. They are as valid as any others are.
   • If you constantly find yourself making excuses for everything you do, you are feeling inadequate and are fishing for external support or begging for mercy for having mishandled something of significance. We all make mistakes and we should all learn from them. But no one needs to apologize for a job well done. So stop doing it. It’s annoying.
   • If your thoughts are toward vengeance for slights or the perceived wrong doings of others directed towards you, then it’s time to realize that although we often think of ourselves as the center of the universe, most other people see themselves in that same role, and it gets a little crowded in the center with all that jockeying for position.  Whatever the slight, let it go--whatever the insult, whatever the perceived wrongdoing, let it go. The only person you hurt is you when you hang on to poisonous thoughts like those.
   • If your thoughts tell you how superior you are to everyone around you, then heaven help us all. You could be considered management material.  ö

Come join us in the class and share your wisdom and revelations with the rest of us! We'd love to have you.

And check out our Community Classes page for local times.

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Last modified: August 15, 2011