Reflections: Open To Change…
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin
Reflections: Open To Change… Sunrise… Be it simple or radical.
Change Upon Change by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Five months ago the stream did flow,
The lilies bloomed within the sedge,
And we were lingering to and fro,
Where none will track thee in this snow,
Along the stream, beside the hedge.
Ah, Sweet, be free to love and go! Contd Below
Do you think people can change? Yes… be it simple or radical. Why change? Because we must; either willingly or by fiat. It is the natural progression of all life to undergo change. Whether we like it or not, change, like death, is inevitable. Just as the sun rises and sets with changing colors, such is the certainty of change. It is human nature to resist change even when we know the benefits because, as creatures of habit, most of us want to maintain the status quo. Our attitude might be: Why rock the boat when all seems to be working well? But change comes anyway. It comes when we least expect it, or on schedule in some shape or form; the I Ching offers 64 hexagrams on changing conditions … and change we must. How do you handle it? How have you handled the new WP default commenting system?
♥A Recent Change: WP has changed the comments notification system. Now when we leave a comment, before we hit submit, we must un-check the box below that says: Notify me of follow-up comments via email. If we forget, which I keep doing because we didn’t have to un-check that silly box in the past, there is a solution. We simply click on/go to Manage subscriptions found on every post that arrives in our mailbox, select Comments, check all the comments we wish to unfollow, click the small dialog box (Bulk Actions), select unfollow, then click apply and it deletes all of them. Bingo! It is a bit of a hassle and until we get used to the idea, many of us will have to use the above approach. It’s an example of change we must embrace by fiat. Cheers! 
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living.” Gail Sheehy
Reflections: Open To Change… Sunset. Change is inevitable.
For if I do not hear thy foot,
The frozen river is as mute,
The flowers have dried down to the root:
And why, since these be changed since May,
Shouldst thou change less than they. Contd below
When are we least open to change? Some might say we are least open when things are going great, but, fear is what often stands in the way and hinders our efforts to embrace change. When are we most open to change? When we believe the benefits outweigh the chance of loss. Or when we’ve exhausted all options and are willing to try a new approach or path. On both accounts, the fear factor is a dominant feature. The irony is that often we say, “I am open to change…” But, in reality, most of us are only open to change if we can control the terms and conditions. What would happen if we just accept the change? More below!
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
Reflections: Open To Change… I Ching – Book of Changes banner
And slow, slow as the winter snow
The tears have drifted to mine eyes;
And my poor cheeks, five months ago
Set blushing at thy praises so,
Put paleness on for a disguise.
Ah, Sweet, be free to praise and go!
For if my face is turned too pale,
It was thine oath that first did fail, —
It was thy love proved false and frail, —
And why, since these be changed enow,
Should I change less than thou. Via famouspoetsandpoems
When did we last make a conscious change? Who or what would we like to see change? Every day we make small, conscious changes to our plans and even our dreams. Sometimes, our effort to change is life shifting and huge. All are valuable because they help us grow. Six months ago, I made a conscious effort to change my lifestyle and improve my overall health. It has been a success but there are more areas of my life that need change so I add new goals to my bucket list. We all do. As for who or what, I’d like to see more equity in our world; the eradication of poverty and greed would be a good start. What about you?
What are your thoughts? Why change? When are we least open to change? When are we most open to change? When did you last make a conscious change? What impact did it have on your life? Do share! Thank you. 😉
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Plinky: Do you think people can change?
*Please bear with me as I continue to catch up on your blogs and commenting… Thank you all for your patience! 🙂
Positive Motivation Tip: As we learn to embrace change, it becomes our helper not our hinderer..
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All photos Sunrise at CuaLo, Sunset, I Ching banner, via Wikipedia and/or Flickr
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
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I have always loved change and always seen it as a positive thing but lately I am having to come to terms with changes that are awful – so I’ve kind of changed my mind about change – hehe!
Wonderful post – thank you for enriching my psyche!
Yes, I used to repeat the mantra “Change is good,” but I was thinking about it today and felt I should have added a line in my post that said… Not all change is good. I hear you! 🙂
Amazing.Today I was visiting Positive Kismet an hour ago..reading Your post about our dreams at 18th.Somehow I reblog it to wordpress.I felt so grateful for Your post..had some questions wanted to ask You..as I finished I found all answers here in this post.So,once more,Elizabeth thank You for Your posts and Your answers.
Be blessed!
milena
TY! I love serendipity and if you felt the questions were answered here, I am glad. It happens to me sometimes too — and then the answers always come. Now, am I open to hearing them? Not always. 😉
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin
+
Darwin understood God’s principle of creation, testing different species …
I concur and that is why I chose the quote… It covers a lot of ground. TY! 🙂
Really thought provoking post. Especially ‘But, in reality, most of us are only open to change if we can control the terms and conditions.’ That is so true. It is so important but so difficult to accept change that’s happening that’s out of our control, but, we always have the choice of how we react to that change. Therein lies the opportunity to regain control – of our feelings! The thoughts in the this post are the kind that inspired me to write my book, with a view to helping as many people as possible embrace change in their lives. Great stuff! 🙂
TY Stuart. And we don’t always accept change so readily especially when our ego and sense of self is tied to the change… Plus, not all change is good change anyway. Best wishes on your book. 🙂
I believe in change! In fact, when i run into people who are resistant to it, I think “What a waste!” for they could be learning more and enriching their daily experience by embracing it!
Great post, Eliz!
I hear you and as much as I believe in change, there are limits. All change isn’t good change even though we could learn from all of it … therein lies the rub. Is it good that we learned something or is it good that we grew from it? 🙂
I’m rubbish at change, even though I’ve moved continents twice. I read a blog post about self-publishing/e-publishing the other day and I barely understood it. I’d better get reading.
Hi Catherine, I’m self publishing at the moment and it is complicated. If you stick with Kindle as a first option it’s much easier. Get your work out there first, then bolt on new skills as you acquire (understand) them. As for change, this is a good place to start! 🙂
Thanks Stuart! I plan to submit a picture book to U-Tales so e-publishing without self-publishing first. I’ll remember the Kindle first tip, thanks a lot.
Are you an illustrator then?
Oh I wish, no they pair you up with one luckily.
Ooooh, I didn’t know about them. I’ll take a look for my children’s series. Thanks. 🙂
Thanks for adding your insights to Cath’s post! 🙂
I hear you… I have moved continents too and some of the changes were easy, some were hard, and some I simply rejected. I hear you
As per self-publishing, there are several outfits that, for a price, offer a variety of options including getting an illustrator. It is a growing field with some good and not so good ones out there. There are small imprints that take on new writers, but we need to do the footwork. Blog friend, Writerlious (erinpike.com) has lots of good info to share and you know Seth Godin has one that is excellent. 🙂
How refreshing it is to read that you are not railing against the changes WP has made to comments – and instead adapting to it. And isn’t this what we need to do for all change in order to move on? Fighting against change saps ones energy – and often it is out of our control. It is best, as some say, to go with the flow.
I’m with you! 🙂
I’m glad you found this post refreshing. Thank you! 🙂 Sometimes, it is okay to vent as long as we move on or offer a solution. I don’t want to rail and leave it at that … hence this approach. Thank you for adding your voice and I do agree that constantly complaining is an energy drain. So, so True!
It always amazes me that we simultaneously fear change and also think things can’t change – not logical – why would we fear what can’t happen and why would we despair that things can change in one area when we are terrified they’ll change in another?
Great questions… Perhaps, because we are human and complicated? 🙂
I love the orange sunset! And I am also a big fan of change 🙂
Th sunset and sunrise shots made me think even more about the topic… light v dark, change v non change… 🙂
We can change whatever we want to. There aren’t railway in life.
We can change once we put our fears aside and go with the flow of change… I agree. 😉
I’ve been observing my own reaction to the WP comment box changes… and how they relate to my own reaction styles: several days of confusion about the emails, hoping it will just go away on it’s own, doesn’t go away…researching into why all the emails, irritation about aspects of that change, more confusion, finding metaphors in my own mind about comments, putting much of that energy into metaphorical thinking, , grumping a bit, accepting the change. But then….it continues….new lesson:…forgetting again and again to uncheck the box, frustration now with myself for not remembering to uncheck, researching the process to unsubscirbe.., more confusion, acceptance that it will take practice and repetition to remember to uncheck the box…Biggest “lesson”….???… noticing that I tend to go through a similar reaction progression/chain to unanticipated change in other areas of my life, too…Red flag to self…watch out for this kind of reaction…as you write…learning acceptance…. : ) And yes, I think people can change….sometimes spontaneously, (I like that one best!)…often times with consistent, positive effort…. : )
omg…I just remembered, BEFORE posting comment to uncheck that followup box!!!!!..wow…changing slowly….so I guess developing patience is tied in with this too… : )
WoW! You delved deep into this one and I love your observations… The best part was your change in action last comment. You made a change by remembering to UN-click that follow button. Kudos! 🙂
Great post, Elizabeth.
Change can be difficult sometimes but in my experience, when the Universe wants us to change and we resist, it has nice little ways to nudge us along.
TY! The universe doesn’t play with those directives either. We either get on board or suffer the pain of being pushed to change. 🙂
Fabulous. My kind of thought process! =)
Ha ha! TY Pam and it is mine too… Change on change. 🙂
You got it Elizabeth! =)
Whan I was a manager in Sales office we were actually sent on a course to “Manage Change” It’s amazing how we can be guilty of rejecting change. However, the WP change to comments is not a positive change 🙁
whoops guilty 😳
No worries. We are all guilty at one point or another. TY! 🙂
Absolutely… The changes must go forward with/without us. TY PiP! 😉
And managers are notorious for holding on to the status quo. 😆 We are often called change masters which can be ironic in some cases. 🙂
Whether we like the changes of not we have (had in my case) implement them with a positive spin
Change is part of what and who we are. But it’s not always easy to embrace. At work, I’ve been known as a “change agent.” not a popular role to play. But, it has helped us ride through all these upheavals. Thank you for talking about change.
As for clicking the unfollow button, yes, I have adjusted but I still sometimes forget. And then the deluge of unwanted emails come. I still prefer to revisit entries I liked to read what other people have said, on my own time. I liked the feature where I get alerted that the Writer has commented on MY comment of their post. That was quite sufficient to make me go back to the post. I’m still trying to understand why the “happy engineers of WordPress” have added this annoying feature. I am hoping it’s not a manipulative ploy for something else. I am hoping it’s not a bad joke. I want to see why or how it would benefit us. I also have to admit that I have been tempted to move to another blog. my daughter already moved to Tumblr.
I hear you and wondered about too… Please stay with us as WP does offer the best blogging platform. 🙂 TY!
Life forces change upon us, we resist it, but when we come through it, we have often grown stronger and less fearful – thought-provoking post, Elizabeth. Thanks
That is so true! We have to go through the for to get there sometimes. 😉
Can I change? Yes. So can you. You can change your settings so I don’t have to unclick that box.
As for the rest, I’ve heard for years the gurus who beseech us to embrace change! Go with change! Be the change! Blah! Blah! Blah!
I say, some things may need to be changed, but there’s alot of change going on that really doesn’t need to happen.
Sometimes humans, you’d do well to sit and be still and leave well enough alone.
TY Rdog! Yes we can all make those moves… not without the occasional resistance. 😉
I’m terrible with change, but working on being more open to it.
You are not alone. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes not… but change we must. 😉
Change can be both good and extremely challenging at the same time. (speaking from experience.)
I think as a rule, people fear change. The problem is that even though it is scary, change can also be liberating. Balance is the key. Miriam
Very insightful thoughts on a very difficult behavior. Change can be difficult sometimes because we want what we want and usually our way. It’s when we realize that life isn’t all about us that we can slow down our emotions. Only we can change; we cannot change others. It is easier to say than to put into effect. It is why we need to keep growing into it with inner reflection.