A major block to lasting happiness and success in life is the fear of change. This fear keeps us within the confines of our safety nets, and turns us into jittery, miserable wrecks whenever we are faced with the possibility of change.
But change is unavoidable. By sticking to our routines and comfort zones, we may be able to resist it for a time, but how tightly can we seal our personal spaces? We may think that we're at peace in our safe havens but our days are really clouded by doubt and worry; we're eternally anxious that change will eventually come.
No, this "peace" that we enjoy in our comfort zones is an illusion. To attain true peace and happiness, we must reduce or even eliminate our fear of change. The crucial thing to understand here is that life is a series of events, some pleasurable, some painful. No one is constantly on an ascending trend. Living life is like riding the waves - we need to ride the crests with optimism and purpose and face the crashes with the will to let them make us better persons.
Most people are afraid of change because they think that it's going to affect them negatively. But change is not always for the worse; change can occur to improve things. Besides, you know what happens when things remain still for too long - monotony sets in, the machinery gathers dust and damp and eventually stops, the muscles become weak, the fish die, and everything eventually becomes a wasteland. This can happen too with your mind and body. Happiness is not static; it has to move around. When you try to trap it in a jar, it loses its breath and life.
Happy people know this truth. They don't attempt to preserve or keep their joys. Their joys are like ever-changing, ever vivacious guests, constantly passing through the halls of their homes. This is how happiness renews itself - it seeks new experiences, new people; painful experiences only serve to sharpen its senses for the next joyful experience.
If you tend to worry about change, ask yourself these questions - what are the positive impacts that can result from the change? How would someone else handle it? And what's the worst case scenario? Is it really that bad? We tend to be overly-dramatic when it comes to change affecting us, but when it happens to others, it's usually more reasonable. More often than not, we're terrorized by the fear itself, not the change per se. Ask yourself these questions, and you'll feel your anxiety fade away.
Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd
