Chapter 8 The Wisdom of Change We must learn to let it be okay to make mistakes,
To grow and stumble and change.
We must learn to embrace change as something that's helpful and good.
Change is,
Of course,
The only constant,
And the sooner we're willing to accept not only its inevitability,
But the power it holds,
We can begin to free ourselves from much unnecessary pain.
As our outer situation changes,
We must adjust our inner perspective.
The more that we can do this,
Adapt to change,
The more we can begin to see that it's okay to always be different and always be changing.
And this process of embracing change is inherently one of making mistakes.
As we learn to adapt to each new situation,
We often stumble and falter before we become comfortable in our new reality.
Yet,
It is vital to make mistakes,
As each one is like a seed that gets planted within us.
As we navigate the garden of life,
We can eventually begin avoiding those plants which can cause us suffering and pain,
For we're able to recognize them as plants which we already have growing within our field of wisdom.
If we fail to acknowledge the inevitability of our mistakes,
However,
We're destined to live a life of regret,
With any growing opportunities and wisdom-building moments seen as simply more struggles and hopeless roadblocks on the path to happiness.
As our wisdom grows,
However,
Through the acceptance of our mistakes,
We can begin to see them instead as helpful companions on our life's journey.
And just as a skier can learn to feel comfortable on very challenging slopes,
We can learn to glide through life,
Listening to our inner sense of direction.
As we honor our inner wisdom and further nurture it by not beating ourselves up over mistakes we might have made,
But by accepting these experiences for the wisdom they hold,
We can begin to work with life on its own terms.
As we continue learning from our mistakes,
Our well of wisdom deepens,
And our sense of direction and the ability to trust our instincts improves.
We begin to feel not so helpless and alone,
And find it easier to embrace change,
For we understand that through change,
We often make mistakes,
Learn,
And grow ever so slowly wiser.
As we become more aware of our ever-changing inner world,
We can begin accepting both our vulnerabilities and our strengths,
And see life as an opportunity to acquire both humility and wisdom.
We can begin recognizing the perfection of each moment,
And start accepting ourselves exactly as we are,
Realizing that we are already enough.
The need to satisfy ourselves without our stimulus will decrease,
And we'll become happier and more comfortable within our own bodies,
Continuously moving ever closer to an honest expression of our true self.
We'll begin to take greater responsibility for our lives,
And move in directions that offer us more happiness and fulfillment.
As we begin opening to change and acknowledging our inner truths,
We can begin to redefine ourselves according to an inner sense of which direction our lives should head.
We can do this by listening closely to our hearts and moving in directions that feel right.
We can begin following the impulses from within,
The longings of our heart and soul.
You see,
We all have unique gifts that we can share with the world,
But to discover these talents,
We must first know who we truly are.
As we become more comfortable with all of our emotions,
We can begin sensing which paths feel right to us,
And courageously begin following them.
We must remember,
However,
That our mind is a very impatient thing,
And we must always be on guard against making unhealthy decisions that arise from being in an uncomfortable mental or emotional state.
Change for change's sake is often the result of discomfort within us.
Change to mask discomfort will usually not benefit us.
It will often only add further instability and fear into our lives.
We should recognize when change is necessary,
And when instead it might make more sense to stay with an experience until we've investigated it fully.
For example,
If we find ourselves wanting to run from a situation before we've expressed our true feelings and tried to change it,
We might be using change to mask our own discomfort.
By doing this,
We may simply be delaying a lesson that life is trying to provide us.
Often,
It's prudent to try to change a situation before we abandon it.
At the very least,
This will make any decision to leave that we do make feel more right inside of us because we'll know that we haven't run from life.
To encounter situations that we don't like or can't accept,
And to try and change them gives us a sense of confidence and self-worth that can only be realized by meeting life on its own terms.
As we learn to welcome change into our lives,
We can begin to feel less resistant to challenging situations that we encounter and instead view them as opportunities to take action in ways that empower us.
When we realize that change is constant,
We can embrace it and become a part of it and begin moving in directions that are more fulfilling and authentic.
