We each come to a point in our lives when we recognize “this is who I am.” We’ve gone through enough experiences, failures, and successes that we begin to see a pattern in how we’ve reacted to our life’s circumstances. We begin to accept our history as Our Story. We tell Our Story when we meet new people. But we also tell Our Story to ourselves, and in doing so, we create an operational comfort zone.
Our Story, however, can be self-limiting. Once we create a specific narrative, it becomes harder to adapt to change. According to TED Talk speaker, Andrew Peek, our society has experienced the same amount of change during the first fourteen years of the 21st century as in the entire previous century. This rate of change will repeat itself by 2021. Peek stated that the amount of change realized during the entire 20th century will be duplicated multiple times per year by 2040.
Our changing culture is introducing new ideas and new ways of doing things that challenge our preconceived impressions about the way things are, including our versions of Our Stories. Peek observed, “Our Stories weigh a ton.” They make us less adaptable to a changing world.
Letting go of burdens from our past is an effective step toward embracing change. Instead of focusing on Our Story, we should be open to the future as a collection of ideas. We can view ourselves as everchanging, maturing individuals whose perceptions are in continual development.
It is natural to fear the unknown. Change, however, is inevitable. It can happen quickly, and it can be significant and overwhelming. Although no one can control the future, we can control how we react to changes as they happen. Acknowledging that change will occur, whether we want it to or not, puts us in a position of being proactive instead of being defensive.
At Possibilities, we’ll explore our personal narratives and entrenched beliefs that may be holding us back. Our life paths are unique and require discovery, acceptance and forgiveness in order to navigate a world of change effectively. We encourage you to join us for one of our personal development seminars.