By Dr. Bryan Hawley
Our personal relationship to change can either make us feel threatened or fulfilled.
As many people shelter in their homes faced with quarantine restrictions around the novel coronavirus, I am reminded that the only thing that is constant in this world is change. Just a few months ago, I would not have envisioned being confined in my house due to a global pandemic. Nor would I ever have thought that toilet paper would be in short supply (brother, do I miss two-ply).
So how can we adapt to change and learn from the times that we are now in?
It is our personal relationship to change that can either make us feel threatened or fulfilled. We either look at change as expansion, growth and lessons shining back on ourselves, or we view it from a loss or victim relationship. Many have lost their jobs, loved ones, homes and/or a host of other things at some point in their lives. Looking back over my own lifetime, I will admit that many of my personal breakthroughs have come about because of what many would call a loss. However, I only classify my hardships as losses if I fail to learn the lessons from the experiences or don’t find the beautiful silver lining behind the cloud.
It reminds me of the “Serenity Prayer:”
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
This offers us profound guidance—especially that last line: “And the wisdom to know the difference.”
Awareness is one of the main ways to understand the difference between the things that we can change and the things that we cannot: awareness of everything that is within us; awareness of everything that is outside of us; and our ability to step back and witness the dynamic exchange between these two worlds.
Most of our fear and anxiety come from our interpretation of those things outside of us. Sure, we may not be able to change the external world, but most of the time it is our interpretation of it that affects what happens inside of us. Many of our fears and anxiety will never come to manifest, yet, due to our internal interpretation of them, we can actually cause physical symptoms of dis-ease to manifest such as stress, anxiety, fear, and a host of other physical reactions that do us no good.
The part of change that we control is our perspective, which means how we process the events that are unfolding. When we become aware of this, we then can start to influence the environment around us.
And we can accomplish this by monitoring what we think, what we say and what we do from the vantage point of our highest Self. When we see the big picture, the harshness of change softens, and others around us will pick up on the vibe.
As we progress though the emergence of a new world after this pandemic, let’s make sure that we are monitoring our interpretations as they unfold—that we are expressing our actions from our higher Self’s perspective, not from a place of fear and lost faith.
We are all in this together, and we are all going to witness this new world unfolding before us. We will have the opportunity to help shape this world and to help guide those who are struggling to adapt to change and loss. Now is the time when you are most needed to share your light and your wisdom.
Dr. Bryan is a published author, national speaker, and personal growth consultant. He also owns an online digital marketing agency and has created a simple online course on digital marketing to help other coaches, and authors break out into the world and reach audiences. You can find out more on his website http://www.drbryanhawley.com or email directly at info@drbryanhawley.com.
