Varadero, Cuba.
Change is good. Change is not hard.
The transition is the hard part.
This is what my supervisor said to me as we chatted about a new system overhaul at my 2nd job. I work at the non-profit government agency known as WIC as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor. Everyone was so excited about this new system. Moving from a very manual system to an electronic one. One that would make everyone’s life easier; the participants of our program and the employees all the same.
However, the transition wasn’t running so smoothly. The program was closed for a week so that all the employees could be properly trained on the new system which meant that our participants could not collect benefits during that week. It also meant a huge overhaul in systems that had been in place for a long time. Participants and employees alike had to change the way they do things, learn something new, different. There were system failures in the first couple weeks and things were pretty much chaotic. People were frustrated and uncomfortable. Everyone agreed the new system was great but few enjoyed the transition.
Change is good. Change is not hard.
The transition is the hard part.
How true is this in our lives!? Many times you want to change. You need a change. You know that where you are is not God’s best for you. You know you are stuck. You have outgrown places, relationships, jobs, even hobbies. You are uncomfortable where you are. You are stressed. You are not filled with peace. You know there is more. There is better. You know you can be better. You’ve made the decision to change. To grow. To move on. But when you start on the awkward, agonizing and uneasy path to change called
TRANSITION
you shrink back to your comfort zone. We tend to go back to what we are used to. To old routines. We focus on old memories versus attempting to imagine the new memories that are possible. We shrink back to old habits. As toxic as they may be, they require no effort. Familiar pain is easier to handle. Familiar disappointment is easier to handle. Fear of uncharted territory or potential holds you back. It is too much work to learn a new skill. To be disciplined. To apply what we know to be true.
I started the gym up again recently. It’s been hard. Changing first and foremost the way I think, the way I eat, prioritizing my time, dropping certain things to make time for the gym, waking up just a little earlier. The transition has been difficult. I’m uncomfortable, complaining (maybe too much), my body aches, and
I miss Johnny Fried Chicken so much.
(Yes, i needed to make that statement stand out) But little by little, I’m working on making changes that will soon not be foreign to my daily life. At the end of this transition, these things will become normal to me. I’ll make peace with controlling what I eat, with making time for working out and being healthier.
Don’t stay stuck.
You were made for more. Trust me, we were all made for more. You are marvelously and wonderfully made by God, creator of the Sun, Moon and stars. You are not here to go through life accepting whatever comes. You were not made to go through the motions. You were made for more. Don’t stay stuck. Don’t look back. Don’t go back. Don’t accept less than something good. Understand that in you is the capacity to take control of your mind. To control what you do with your thoughts. To make hard decisions. To walk in those decisions. To change.
In you is the capacity to make a change.
You must first recognize that a change is necessary. (This is where a lot of people are stuck because they do not see a need for them to change and you cannot help those people. But that is a blog post for another day)
But once you recognize a need for change, take baby steps. Make small decisions. The transition will be hard. It will be uncomfortable. It will be different. You may cry. You may lose hope. But understand that at the end of transition is lasting change. Don’t lose focus on the end goal.
I imagine a caterpillar in its cocoon. The caterpillar drags itself throughout its life span and one day, its body tells it to stop eating. To stop doing what its always done. That its time for change. The caterpillar finds a place, with the right surroundings. The right environment. In this place it builds its cocoon. Do you think the caterpillar knows how long its metamorphosis will be? It can be anywhere from 5 to 21 days. I don’t think it knows. (I’m imagining it has a mind. Just try and imagine with me) I don’t think it even knows what it will end up being either. That it will be able to fly. That it will look nothing like it was before. But it knows it can’t go back to its original state. That life can’t stay the same because something in it says “I’m uncomfortable here. I can’t stay in this state anymore. The caterpillar’s body goes through all sorts of changes in that cocoon. And then one day the metamorphosis is over. The transition is over. The caterpillar breaks free from its cocoon. Even its name has changed. It is now a butterfly. It has new capabilities. Living in a new reality. The transition was probably confusing but now, outside of the cacoon, the butterfly can clearly see that all of it was necessary. The changes. The waiting. The uncomfortability of the cocoon. The metamorphosis and all it entailed.