"Five Ways to Welcome Change"

Ways to Welcome Change

The architect is a man who synthesizes, but he does not yet possess the wisdom and infinite intuition of the angels, who alone are capable of building a cathedral without planning ahead.

By Elizabeth Lesser

Raise your hand if you've had a crazy year with lots of changes--good, bad, or otherwise. OK! Just as I thought; we're all in this together. The most difficult change I've been dealing with is my sister's cancer diagnosis and treatment. Sitting by her bed in the oncology unit the other day, I came across words by the great Sufi master, Hazrat Inayat Khan: "Walking on the turning wheel of the earth, living under the ever-rotating sun, man expects a peaceful life."

Reading them, I had an a-ha moment--I let go of demanding that life be predictable, easy, peaceful. Such a relief! I decided to make my New Year's resolution be about welcoming change with a willing heart. If you want to join me in this, here are some helpful ways to proceed.

Expect Change

Since we live in a changing universe, expect change. Good change, difficult change, destructive change, transformative change.

Make Friends With Change

Try not to fight change. Make unconditional friendship with it, in whatever form it arrives.

Relax Into the Mystery

There is so much more to this life than we can ever understand through our tiny brains and fearful hearts.

So in times of big change, it's good to be gentle and kind and patient with yourself. And to relax. The best peacemakers are those who are at peace with themselves.

Receive Change's Message

Be still and listen deeply for the truth that is carried on its winds--information about the past, wisdom about the present, and direction for the future.

Come Alive

Join forces with the dynamic flow of life. The African-American theologian Howard Thurman said: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive."

And so, as the old year changes into the New Year, ask what makes you come alive, and then go do it--for your own sake, and in service of the greater good.