There have been times in my life when I felt I couldn’t keep up with all the change, and times I didn’t want things to change. Have you ever felt that way?
Change is an inescapable law of nature, and it doesn’t take into account how we’re going to feel about it. Our best response is to accept and learn the lessons impermanence teaches us.
Here are a few ways learning from impermanence allows us to become happier:
- Slow down. When things don’t go our way, control strategies begin to take over. We want to move quickly, escape, numb out. Slowing down helps you connect back to your heart, which is your best advisor.
- As difficult emotions linger (even for a really long time), remember that no feeling is final. Recall the times you’ve felt laughter, joy, and abundance. Those things will come back and find you.
- When your kid is making decisions you disagree with, imagine yourself as an eighty-year-old. What would the old and wise you have to say about your child and the middle aged you?
I’m learning to honor change as one of my biggest teachers. Change reminds me that we are always in the process of becoming. There is so much possibility in that.
