If change is inevitable, why is it so hard?

When we look at nature we see many examples of change, from the seasons to the life cycles of organisms change dynamically reshapes our world. On the surface it seems simple enough. To live is to change. Yet, when faced with change we often resist. Why is that?

This summer I find myself back in the plateaus and canyons of New Mexico. A few days before my internship began I felt unsettled. Was I excited to begin my internship? Yes! So, why did I feel this way. At first, I tried to ignore these feelings but then I thought about them more deeply. Why could I not feel perfectly content in this new situation? Beginning this internship was a relatively small change in my life, but why did I sense this tension right before I was going to start.

Change, whether major or minor, tends to do that. It disrupts the normalcy in our lives. If we think of change as a mathematical equation there are many variables. Perhaps some are big, and others are small; nevertheless, they are all unknown to us. These variables will eventually have to be solved to reach a solution. In our equation of change we need a constant. Now I won’t continue to exhaust this analogy; however, the point is that while we can’t decide what the variables are we can choose what is the constant. Oftentimes we are the constant. We can determine what our response will be to the new set of conditions we may find ourselves in.

If resisting change does not alter the circumstances, how do we learn to embrace change? To embrace change, we have to embrace uncertainty. While this is easier said than done, we must first start by accepting that we can’t control everything around us. When we acknowledge this, we can move in a new direction. Finding the positivity in a situation is an intentional action that takes a unique outlook.

Change is inevitable. Change is hard. It is up to us to embrace it and find the chance to grow.

---Kalifa Stringfield
Kalifa Stringfield is a Masters student in the College of Engineering