Tackling and Embracing Change

I’m a college kid. With one semester left before I’m off and in the real world, I have been reflecting more and more on my years of being a student and a young adult, what went right and where I could have been a better version of myself. I have also reflected on how all these little decisions I’ve made for myself in the past have impacted who I am now and where I’m headed.

It’s easy to look back and think, “I wish I would have done that differently” or “What might have been if I had acted differently?” All these questions can have multiple contexts and meanings however they all stem from within me. For me and I’m sure many other people, college is a blip in time that seems to go quicker than many other points in time. In this rapid progression, changes come up almost constantly; where we live, daily routines, dating relationships, friendships. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that at the end of the day, nothing could be the same as it was the day before.

Since I now have four years under my belt I like to think I am a professional when it comes to change. Being adaptive and learning from myself and the people around me have given me this internal superpower that I feel makes me both stronger and better prepared for anything life wants to throw at me. But the more and more I think about it and the more and more I look at my future and what is ahead, I realize that change is constant and is not going to go away. I also realize that change is not always bad and that it’s an opportunity to grow and become more self-aware.

This is my way of tackling change and a few of the steps I take to prepare myself for the unknown:

1. Consciously notice “Hey, here comes something I wasn’t thinking would happen.”
2. Step back and look at the situation. Ask how will this new thing impact me as well as how will it impact those around me?
3. Feel it out. What will happen if I react this way and what will happen if I react that way? Find the outcomes of this new perspective.
4. Daydream different solutions, it never hurts to think it through in the long run.
5. Trust the gut. Most of the time, it will work the way I feel it will.

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Change is constant in the world we live in, and how we are willing to react gives us an idea of how more changes down the road will play out. Whether it be a new job or buying a home or just finding a new friend, you already have everything you need to make a conscious decision on how you choose to react. You’ve been training for these moments your whole life. What are you going to do to make the change better your life?

I’ll leave you with a quote from Roman Philosopher Marcus Aurelius:

“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.”
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-Mitchell
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Photo: Mitchell Albers with permission by @mitch_albers_media