We all go through changes in our lives. I’m currently going through changes in my job and personal life, and some of my friends are also going through changes in their life. How do you respond to change? Some of us like change, others hate it, and others neither like nor hate it. I sometimes get very excited about change, and other times I have a hard time with change. For example, I love traveling and living in different states, so I enjoyed it when my job allowed me to travel to different states a few years ago. Other changes that bring discomfort to how I was living my life can make me upset about the change.
So how do we respond when the changes we go through in life make us feel uncomfortable and sometimes even painful? Our immediate response could be denial, we might ignore what’s going on and try to believe that nothing will change. Once we know the change is actually happening, we can go through the next phase, ‘anger.’ During this phase, we might try our best to do everything for it to go back to how it used to be before the change. Finally, we get to the ‘acceptance’ phase when we accept the change. During the acceptance phase, we learn to accept the new reality and navigate through the change; in some cases, we might even embrace the change. We are studying this book called ‘Who moved my Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson at our work, and there are great insights I’ve learned from that book. If you are going through some changes in your life, I highly recommend reading that book. The book discusses four characters Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw. Sniff, who sniffs out change early. Scurry, who scurries into action. Hem denies and resists change, fearing it will lead to something worse. Haw learns to adapt when he sees that changing can lead to something better (Johnson, 2007, p. 12).
The book describes Sniff and Scurry as two little people and Hem and Haw as two little mice. Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw were enjoying the cheese from the same cheese station for a long time. One day, all four realized the cheese was no longer in the usual cheese station. Sniff and Scurry tried looking for cheese in their usual cheese station, and since they couldn’t find the cheese, they decided to move on and search for a new cheese. On the other hand, Hem was in complete denial when the cheese got moved, and he tried to keep coming to the same place looking for the cheese, and he was angry when he didn’t see any cheese. On the other hand, Haw was going through the initial phase of denial and anger, but soon enough, he moved on to the acceptance phase and decided to move from that place and search for new cheese in other stations (Johnson, 2007, p. 1-75).
I want to share some of the lessons I’m learning through the changes I’m experiencing in my life and from the ‘Who moved my cheese’ book. These are not rules to follow, so use discernment and wisdom from God on the lessons that might apply to you.
1) Acceptance Phase – The sooner we get to the ‘Acceptance’ phase, the sooner we will take action to move toward all the things that God has for us. For example, if we know that a job will not be there anymore, instead of waiting for something to change, sometimes it might be best to start looking outside for new job opportunities, just like Sniff and Scurry.
2) Don’t look back – Stop looking back at the old season that you were in and embrace the new things that are happening in this phase that we are in.
3) Be Grateful– Don’t focus on the negatives but be thankful for all the positive things that are happening because of this change.
4) Grace – Give yourself some grace when you get upset or angry while going through a change.
5) Hold on to things loosely – Don’t hold on to anything of this world too tight because there is no guarantee those things will not change.
6) Hold on to Jesus tightly Hold on to Jesus because He is the one who never changes. According to Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (New American Standard Bible). According to Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” Check out the article I recently wrote about ‘Christ the solid rock.’
References
Johnson, S. (2007). Who moved my cheese? : an amazing way to deal with change in your work and life. Vermilion.
