Are you comfortable with change? Let’s think about it … are you “comfortable” … with “change”?

Change can be slow and take many years, like a baby growing into adulthood, or it can be quick, like plans that get canceled at a moment’s notice. I find that change which takes a longer time is, more often than not, easier to adjust to. Quick change can be more of a challenge for me, even now.

As a youth and even into my adulthood, I was not at all comfortable with change. Quick change was unnerving to me and maybe even a bit scary. The “not knowing” about what was going to happen, as a result, brought on a multitude of stresses. It made me feel unsafe. For many years, I resisted change whenever I could, being much more comfortable with the status quo.

The result was that I began to attempt to “control” as much as I could — plans, people — to manipulate and rearrange whenever possible.

My resistance to change was challenged by the raising of two daughters, for change is an everyday, if not an every moment, occurrence when raising a family. But children need a scheduled sleep time, nap time, feeding time. I fit well into establishing the schedule. As they grew, there were sports and school activities and additional schedules. All fine with me. I really didn’t focus on the changes that were ongoing right in front of me.

I myself was a teacher by profession, but after being an at-home mom for a few years, the act of returning to work, although part-time, was appealing because I could have my daughters as students. When I went back to full-time teaching, I noticed many teachers struggling with getting lesson plans in on time. But not me. I fit right in to the routine of it all. I certainly had variety in my hands-on teaching approach to learning, and my students were from various backgrounds. But I was comfortable with it all — the planning, the routine, the control. I knew what I wanted to accomplish and my plan was set.

Then came my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, which placed “change” in the forefront of my life. I never knew how I was going to feel or how much energy I would have for how long. A schedule no longer worked for me. Actually, it became quite stressful to know that at a certain time I needed to be at a certain place — like a doctor’s appointment — another revelation in my life. It seemed as if I was always postponing appointments. Me, who had “routinely” arrived early for any scheduled appointment, now seemed to be always postponing and rescheduling, and rescheduling, and rescheduling again. I resisted and resented having to do that. Stresses mounted. Something had to happen.

I began turning my attention, more intently, to Mother Nature and really focusing on what she was showing me. She was the model from whom I had always learned. I scheduled more time for myself outside, and I noticed myriad changes around me daily. Change was happening from the clouds moving across the sky to the daily variations in temperature. Though I walked down the same path each day, it was never the same. It looked different, it smelled different, it felt different. Different birds serenaded me. One cheerful chick-a-dee followed me as I wandered along, and in the distance an indigo bunting spouted forth multiple patterns of sweet song.

As the seasons progressed, the change was continual. There were trees that grew and changed each day and plants that flowered and went to seed. So why was I resisting change? I puzzled over that question and vowed to spend more time with Mother Nature.

My symptoms gradually receded and I returned to my teaching responsibilities and life continued. I still got my lesson plans in on time, but I no longer stressed about being on time for appointments, although I usually was. And I learned to become more comfortable with postponing appointments, although I tried to do that ahead of time. I began to not only listen to my body but respect what it was telling me I needed to do or not do. I even cancelled appointments altogether, at times, without any anxiety involved. Sometimes, that’s just what I needed to do.

As time went on, I retired from teaching and found myself actually craving change. I love these Adirondack Mountains, but I wanted to explore them more and discovered I enjoyed driving down old back roads and seeing what was around the next bend. I enjoyed watching the shadows slide across the mountains, dipping and scattering over hills and valleys. I had become an Adirondack 46er before retiring. It was a dream come true. Yet, climbing at a much slower pace after retiring allowed me to truly see change taking place everywhere.

Now I am older and much more accepting about the changes that occur in my life. It makes life seem more of an adventure instead of an accomplished plan. I actually enjoy the “not knowing” about the future, although it doesn’t quell my curiosity and the questions I may pose.

Mother Nature shows us that change is always happening and that’s okay. Our challenge is how we perceive the change and its effect on our lives. I spent many years resisting it in my life and that caused me much undue stress. But no longer.

The spontaneity of change has become appealing to me, and I have become more at peace with the changes affecting my living and my life. But it has taken many, many years.

How about you? Are you comfortable with the changes occurring in your life?

Change can initiate our traveling down new avenues. Avenues we never noticed before. Change holds within it the potential for rejuvenation. It’s all in the way we look at what is happening in our life.

I try to remember that change is everywhere; change is constant; change is okay. It can be as exciting as it is challenging. Let’s try to see life as an adventure.

And embrace the challenge. Embrace the change.

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Debby Havas is an author living in Jay. Her writings express her experiences in the healing energies of Mother Nature.