Change is good-ish...

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change." -Mary Shelly

Now, I have never read Frankenstein so I’m not sure exactly what the author meant but sometimes I can relate to that feeling. Yes, I know that change is necessary but I am NOT a fan. Sometimes it can be so inconvenient and sometimes so unnecessary. I know I’m not the only one who cringes when policies change at work. Upper management claims the new way will make business better and run more efficiently. Sometimes it works. And sometimes they end up going back to the way it was before. Or how about when a store changes the layout. I often wonder, did the chips complain about being too close to the juice? Does it really make sense for the wine to be next to the diapers? Well…yes, that makes perfect sense! But really, I just want to walk in, go straight to what I need, get it, and leave.

One day I’m in the store searching for a product because it’s not in the same place as it was before. I noticed another product I had not seen before the layout change. A product that could be very beneficial to me. I don’t know if it was a new product or something that the store had always carried but it was something that I

may not have seen if it wasn’t for the change. I bought that product and I loved it!

But, what about when the change must happen in me? Yes, I struggle with that also. Changing what I have always thought, what I have always known, and how I have always behaved is no easy task. As a therapist, one of the most talked about subjects is how to change your thinking or your behavior. I ran across another quote that stated,

“...when things change inside you, things change around you.”

So many of us, myself included, want others to change and want things to change around us but we fail to see or fail to work at the

changes that need to be made in our own lives. (Hmmm... food for thought.)

So yes, change can be inconvenient, burdensome, and sometimes painful… and I am still not a fan, but I recognize that it has

the potential to give me a new perspective, allow me to see something that I have never seen before and most of all it allows me to do things that I have never done before. Ultimately, change forces me to give up control and allow God to bring change to my life and bring out the best in me!

With Love,

Tameka Ludd

Instagram: @mrsludd