📷: Cynthia Magana
7 Effective Ways to Conquer Change
After my husband asked me for the 10th time what was wrong, and I had scrolled through the same Facebook posts umpteen times, I realized something really WAS wrong. But I didn’t feel bad or sick, just blah and unmotivated. My desire to accomplish things was not just low…. it was NONEXISTENT!
I was buried in a funk… but where the heck did this stupid, stinky funk come from? What was my PROBLEM?! Then it hit me, I was so overwhelmed I was frozen! (And not in a hit Disney movie kinda way) Hubs and I have some major changes coming in our lives… bigger than we have experienced our entire marriage, and I have ZERO answers about how, what, when, where, how much it will cost, where the money will come from… NOTHING… and it has stopped me in my tracks.
Full confession: As much as I claim to not be a details person, I am. I am a doer, an organizer, a planner. Shoot, I am an event planner! Event planners thrive on the details! I know the how, what, where, when and who of every minute of an event, yet I have none of that for my own life. For an event planner control freak, this is some kind of torture.
No matter how much you love (or don’t love) a new adventure, chapter, season, or whatever you chose to call it, change can be scary! I have always thrived on change. The thrill of a new adventure, new people, new experiences is super exciting. This is still true now, but there is something else I am dealing with as well- stress? fear? sadness? all of the above? Call it what you will, it has rendered me unable to accomplish what I want need to.
Thank heavens there are ways out of this frozen funk… enter 7 effective ways to conquer change!
Get some exercise:
Take a walk or jog. Go for a swim, do a dance! … just get your body moving. This will help get your blood pumping, it will release endorphins and help you move past the frozen funk and make you feel better.
Pray:
God is so good my friends. You may have given your struggles over to him a thousand times already, but chances are you keep taking them back… give them to him again.
Make a list:
So you have a bazillion things to do? Like what? write them down. This allows you to stop holding them in your brain fearing you will forget, writing them down allows you to relax a bit more, and it will give you a starting place for making your game plan!
Make a game plan and get after it!!!:
This one is a bit more complicated, but let me walk you through some basics.
As an event planner I like to lock myself in my office where I can attend the event in my head… sound nuts? Maybe… but it works. For example, upon arrival at my imaginary event, I need to pick up my name tag, I need food, tables, chairs… (So I need greeters, name tags, tables and chairs rented, a caterer contracted) I write it all down.
If I were moving I would think though that “event”… I need to pack boxes and get them into a truck (I need empty boxes to fill, tape to close them, people to help me get those boxes to the truck, food to feed those people who so generously help). This does not have to be an exhaustive list- you can revisit it multiple times. I never get it all figured out on the first try, but it gives you a place to start.
Now work backwards. I like to print out a blank monthly calendar so I can back up from the event- when do invitations need to go out? when do I need my rentals delivered? picked up? When do I need my staff hired? After all is said and done, you will have a plan- it may be general, or to may be crazy detailed… either way, it gives you a place to start. Now take pieces of the puzzle and knock them out!
Just for good measure:
Go ahead and give it to God one more time…. 😃
Practice Mindfulness or Meditation:
Mindfulness does not mean being empty. It is not a scary or dangerous practice. I like to focus mine in prayer. A good place to start is the Psalms. Read a Psalm all the way through then close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Feel the air slowly fill your lungs and leave your lungs when you exhale. When your shopping list, your homework, or scenes from the last episode of Game of Thrones enters your head, acknowledge it, but then push it back out- go back to focusing on your breathing.
This is exercise, just like lifting weights to build your biceps. With it, you are training your brain to be in the here and now. Not stressing about tomorrow or looking back on the “should haves” of yesterday.
Take a detox bath:
This can be so relaxing, and that may be exactly what you need! Fill the tub with warm water and add a cup of epsom salts and maybe a few drops of essential oils like lavender or Balance, the grounding blend and just relax!
Finally…
I get that it isn’t going to be easy, and you potentially have zero motivation, but putting one foot in front of the other is a start. Pick an easier option and run with it… This will break your stuck cycle and make it easier to take the more challenging ones.
Armed with the awareness of my stress and effective tools to conquer change, I am ready to tackle life’s new adventures head on.
Do I have all of the answers?
No…
Will you?
Probably not…
Am I willing to do what I can while I wait for God to fill in the big answers?
Absolutely, and I hope you are too.
What change is coming up in your life ?
