Change as an Ingredient for Success
Engaging the Power of Change in Your Life
Do you ever feel compelled to cling to the bare rocks of your daily existence? Even when the conditions are far from comfortable? Do you feel that you have to cling on with every fibre of your being? Do you ever feel that if you let go for one instant, that you’ll fall?
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
– Andre Gide
This visceral need to hold on at all cost may be due to a profound reluctance to allow change into your life. It’s a symptom of a very common fear. Most people fear change. The result is an unshakable bond with our circumstances that avoids all risk of change. Better the devil we know than the devil we don’t?
Yet, change is the most natural aspect of everything we know. Everything changes. It’s the natural order of the universe. And yet, despite the deep fears that drive us to resist any form of change in our lives, it’s very helpful to acknowledge that situations can also change for the better.
How often do you hear the litany of creative excuses that are made to justify people’s circumstances? ‘It’s Fate.” “Que sera sera.” “That’s how things are.” “There’s nothing we can do.” It’s quite bizarre that we are capable of inventing so many reasons to explain why things have to stay the way they are. This is one of the myriad ways we deploy to keep the force of change as far away as possible. It’s the stubbornness of our fears that prompts us to deny the positive power of change.
This is surely not the best way to take full advantage of the benefits that change can bring.
It seems that we have such a profound resistance to change that we miss out on the countless positive opportunities that change can present to us. It’s the benevolent catalyst that can sweep away obstructions and limitations and carry individuals to new levels of success, happiness and personal fulfilment.
Yet, in most cases, we resist it.
“Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick –
to start from scratch once again.”
– Bikram Choudhury
There is a famous story, repeated by a celebrated mountain climber, that sums up the situation perfectly.
He described in dramatic detail the experience of scaling an ice face during a very challenging ascent of a peak in the Himalayas. He said the mountain was a very stern and uncompromising teacher.
He said the mountain had some important rules to teach.
Firstly – never look down. There is no virtue in looking behind you. Nothing is gained by looking back. The future is not behind or below you. It is in front of you.
Second principle – pay no attention to what others are doing. There might be other people attempting the same challenge but, if you focus on what others are doing, you lose your vital connection with what you must do to move towards your chosen destination.
Thirdly – you have to learn to let go. It might seem unnatural and deeply uncomfortable when every instinct is urging you to cling to the side of the mountain with every fiber of your being. Yet, you have to let go. You let go with one hand because that’s the only way for you to move on. You let go and reach for the next handhold. And that’s how you move up the ice face and move up the mountain towards your goal. By letting go and moving upwards.
Now, we might not be in such a dramatically perilous situation, halfway up a mountain in a howling wind with the risk of death at every moment. But this powerful story holds a precious principle that each of us can adopt. We can recognise the importance of letting go in order to move on. And that’s one of the core principles of accepting the power of change.
As we learn to let go, we can create space in our lives for new possibilities to open up. Some would suggest that the possibilities are always around us. It’s simply our reluctance to let go of the old habits and limitations that blocks our ability to discover the changes that offer us the opportunity for meaningful progress.
By learning to let go, we can embrace an incredibly potent force in our lives. And that’s exactly how we can learn to reach the highest peaks of personal fulfilment and unimagined success.
If you found this idea useful and feel inspired to embrace the positive power of change in your life, please feel free right now to share the post and encourage your family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances to discover the real value of learning to let go of the things they don’t need. Let’s be a force for positive change in the world. Help everyone to enjoy greater levels of freedom, happiness, inner calm and success in all areas of their lives.
Together, we really can make the world a better place.
Greg Parry developed The Wellness Foundation and the Cognitive Empowerment Programs specifically to help people master their stress and explore the power of their true potential.
You can explore our websites at:
Your personal resources for a happier and more successful way of living