By Dr. Bruce A. Johnson
DO you ever wonder why change is so challenging for a person to undertake? Consider trying on a new style of clothing, perhaps a color you have never worn before.
How uncomfortable does it make you feel? Or how do you respond to someone’s suggestion you should change the style and color of your hair?
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How do you feel about change? |
All of these thoughts are personal in nature, and create feelings of uncertainty. But those emotional reactions are not limited to changes in a person’s appearance.
It can occur any time we are taken out of our normal routine. I’m certain you can think of a time when you went into a new environment, whether it was a new store or even a new city, and you felt disoriented.
Any time when we are removed from familiar surroundings and forced to change our perspective, it may be a time of great discomfort.
How long it lasts depends upon how adaptable a person is and whether or not they are able to quickly reorient themselves to a new setting or mindset.
I have seen this happen as an educator, especially while working in the field of distance learning. When students attend a traditional classroom, there is a sense of normalcy and what can be expected.
But with a technologically-enabled environment, the classroom can feel quite disorienting at first. This forces students to change how they communicate and how they learn.
Now learning will involve more than using a search engine for answers or information.
It also means learning to communicate in a socially respectable manner, rather posting online messages in an emotionally reactive mood.
These are changes, which like any change that causes a shift in thinking, which can be challenging to adjust to and take time to process.
I understand we as humans can adapt to our environment, yet I wanted to learn more from an energetic perspective.
And this is what I focused on while connected to Collective Consciousness and higher order Universal Wisdom.
I will share with you what I have learned about the energy of change.
A universal truth is this: Energy is ever flowing, moving, alive, and pulsating through all of life, and all of the Universe.
This energetic flow creates an ongoing cycle of growth, productivity, renewal, regeneration, restoration, and return to form.
This energy is in constant motion, yet is able to solidify at a cellular level, atomic level, microbiotic and particulate level, to create life.
This solidification process appears unmovable to humans, and yet as energy, everything still returns to form. A piece of wood can rot and return to the Earth.
A brick can lose its form and break down into dust. The human form decays or declines, or can be forced to end its course, and becomes separated from its energy source.
Nothing remains or lasts without end except energy, the energy source of life.
And for energy to be in motion, for this cycle of life to occur and be ongoing, there must be changes happening at all times. Nothing and no part of life can ever remain unchanged.
The Mind’s Coping Mechanism
Humans, society, culture, all of life evolves, grows, and expands through a process of growth and change.
Due to this constant cycle of change, the human mind has established stabilizers to help humans feel a sense of security in their daily experience.
If humans all felt the energetic cycle going on, and flowing through them, there would be tremendous discomfort experienced by many. The human mind has developed a coping mechanism called habits.
Habits of the mind are the routines or patterns of thought a person establishes to put order to their day.
These are the mental shortcuts used for completion of tasks, from something as simple as remembering how to use a kitchen appliance, to the directions needed for driving to a place of employment.
With habits firmly established, a person can feel a sense of stability - even as brief as it may be, while everything else in life is changing around them.
Changing a Long-Term Habit
Changing a long-term habit is challenging, not just because it is a mental or cognitive process, but due to its energetic nature.
When a person decides to willingly change some aspect of their life, or some habit of their mind, there is positive energy associated with it.
Yet the idea also puts the person in a cycle of change, which is energetically different. Feeling good is only a starting point, and sustaining this positive feeling does help with the management of change.
But the energy of change is busy, dynamic, powerful, sometimes forceful, and very active. A person needs more than a good idea to want to change.
They need true intent, a positive feeling which is sustained, and active involvement in an ongoing change process.
Motivational Changes
The motivational industry, along with many other self-help industries and spiritual teachers, utilize the idea of change and self-improvement to help draw followers in.
Yet when the results promised are not received or experienced, there is a common belief that the followers had a lack of follow-through, or simply lacked any ongoing interest.
As an example, if someone attends a motivational seminar and learns a new habit of thinking which is guaranteed to make them wealthy, they usually leave with an intent and a positive feeling.
Soon afterwards, the energy of change becomes more active and now those who attended the seminar begin to realize something must happen.
Yet over time, another realization occurs, when people begin to acknowledge there is more involved in the process than what was learned in the seminar.
In other words, the thought of change alone is not enough by itself to create a change.
Many people who attend motivational seminars feel the initial positive intent, but cannot match the energy of change required later, and this is why long-term success is rare for these types of seminars.
Many report these seminars fail due to participants forgetting information within a certain number of days, or lacking sustained motivation.
While those factors may contribute to not receiving the outcome expected, the ultimate cause can be found at an energetic level.
Involuntary Change
Now consider change which is forced upon a person, someone who does not seek out an opportunity to change. This could be a person who has experienced loss, whether personal or professional.
Now this person is forced into the energy of change. The disorienting feeling is a result of the active nature of this type of energy. Change is a state of energy which requires action.
A person who experiences it must, at the very least, acknowledge it.
It can disrupt habits of thought, which pull a person out of their routine, and this may create negative feelings or emotional reactions. Unexpected, traumatic, and forced change are the most difficult to adapt to.
Learning to Adapt
A person who wants to learn how to adapt to change can best do so from an energetic perspective. In other words, work inwards first, before addressing external conditions.
To begin, address what is being felt and experienced on an emotional level. This is how to find the energy change within. This is how a disruption can be pinpointed, if negative feelings are experienced.
If this is a positive experience, looking within will be easier, as the energy of change can be felt and managed much quicker.
What is meant by this is trying to feel the new sensation of the event which occurred, how you responded to what has happened, and how you internalized it.
Once you have done the internal work, you can then begin to shift your mindset and perspective as needed. You can ask yourself: How do I need to adapt? How can I adjust?
Has my view of life changed and if so, what will I do to accept it now? How can I embrace this change and grow?
Change is neither positive nor negative, good or bad, from an energetic perspective. It is a catalyst for growth, development, learning, and renewal.
As you learn to adapt to change from an energetic level first, you will find it easier to adapt to it, whether you need to change habits, emotions, attitudes, or beliefs.
After you complete the internal processing, any external actions taken will be done as a result of your acceptance, not your resistance.
As you learn to accept change from this perspective, you then discover how you are growing and evolving as a human being, one who is still an energetic being.
Dr. J’s mission is to teach, write, and inspire others as an educator, author, writer, mentor, and teacher. Dr. J writes blog posts, articles, and books to inform, inspire, and empower readers.
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