It is human nature to resist change, especially change that we do not feel in charge of or do not intentionally create. It is easier to stay in a rut than branch out and embrace change. I know some of you are thinking, “I like change.” If that is true about you, you are in the minority. Again, unless you feel that you are in charge of the change.

I was thinking about this today while enjoying cooler days of September. While I love summer, I also love each season, and the changes they bring. Well, I don’t love January and February, but I do enjoy the other months! As I was thinking about enjoying the change of the seasons, I began to wonder why the change of the seasons is often met with excitement, while change in general can be difficult for us. Something to ponder.

Why do I enjoy the change of the seasons? Each season has its beauty. The beauty of Fall may be the most splendid, with the leaves changing colors in such a magnificent manner. While Spring and Summer have blooming trees and flowers, many of which are beautiful, such as Crepe Myrtles and flowering fruit trees, I don’t think anything can compare to Fall’s beauty, especially in the southeast, which is the only part of the country that I have lived in. Just spend some time in the mountains of North Carolina in the Fall, and you will be awestruck.

I used to work with a consultant, Marilyn Moats Kennedy, who had a catchy phrase: ‘The only one who really likes change is a wet baby!”

The tag line for my business, the Fralix Group, Inc. is “Inspiring positive change in work, life, and family”. Please note the “positive” part of this. All change is certainly not positive. And change for change’s sake isn’t sufficient. But when change is positive, even if it is initially difficult, it can be life changing in a good way.

I think of our downsizing as a good example of this. While I certainly still miss, and always will, the beauty and space of our home that we built, remodeled, and lived in for almost thirty-five years, there are several things that I enjoy more about our current home. Our current home is actually a rental, and I like not having to worry about upkeep, either the responsibility for it or the cost of it. It is less than one-half of the space we had, and it is so much easier to maintain, clean, and even enjoy. I like knowing that we live in most of the space, and that there aren’t but a couple of rooms that we rarely occupy. I like being able to park in front of our garage door and walk into our home from the garage easily and quickly, instead of going through several rooms to live in a couple of rooms, rarely spending any time in probably three-fourths of the space. While this change was initially very difficult, even heart breaking, I am able to now see the positive in this change, and no longer actively grieve for what is past. Our home that was so hard to leave nurtured our family for many years, and then it was time for us to leave and create a new home. This has been a major change, and I am now able to accept that it was the right change for us at this time in our lives.

We can enjoy change, and we can even embrace it. We can manage change, hopefully reducing the negative impacts of change we do not want. We can also resist change. But what we cannot do is stop change. Change happens whether it happens to us or with us. We are either moving forward or going backwards. What we cannot do is stay the same.