So the family seems to be going through a little bit of a season of change. I'm starting work at my first "real job" outside the business today. My brother has just been accepted to work as an assistant youth pastor. My younger sister is just adjusting to having handed over the presidency of a society she had been leading for the past year. The older sister has also handed over part of her portfolio to someone else... a lot of changes are happening in our lives.
This week, our topic is on changes in life, dealing with them, and moving into new seasons of growth. Change can come at any time, and in many forms. A lot of the time, change is scary. A lot of the time, even if the change is positive, there's always something we need to let go of to help us move into the new phase. Changes happen - whether for "better" or "worse" - but it is change that brings growth, and growth is a sign of life (just think of how it all works out in nature too!).
Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better. – King Whitney Jr.
I think one of the wisest things that I've learned about changes in life is that you cannot always choose what happens, and you cannot always be in control of the change, but you can choose how to respond to it. There is always a variety of perspectives one can take over a single situation. The difference in one's perspective, and the ensuing choice of response, could differentiate between a winner and loser, a failure or finisher. Choose to take (or find) the positive one. A little reframing can go a long way.
My selection this week includes some biblical ones which would give new perspectives to the topic - and not just a selection of purely secular similar views phrased differently.
Here are the links to the articles I've posted up on the door this week:
- Dealing with Life's Changes
- Being forward looking and changing the world with change
- How to face change, be it unexpected or self-motivated
- New Beginnings and working them through with God (Okay, it might be strange that this is at "retirementwithapurpose.com" but I thought it was biblically insightful)
For people who prefer watching/listening, here is a short video that I thought had a couple of things that made me ponder. I'll try to post up better videos next week as I explore the world of online videos.
Here are a list of quotes about changes if you're a quote-y sort of person.
This was my favourite one:
"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."
And I love butterflies.
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