No one likes to feel caught off guard.
For this reason and more, when life suddenly changes, so often we feel we should have seen it coming. And yet, every aspect of our lives, and everyone in it, will change. The question is: How to tolerate this truth when the change is caused by loss.
More than anything else, what’s probably most needed is patience. Change is hard. Even exciting changes – a new job, a new home, a new partner – can stir anxiety and doubt. There might be a part of you that wants to hold on tight to the familiar. After all, we get comfortable with what we know, even if we’ve grown familiar with frustrating or limiting circumstances.
If your life suddenly changes, take the time you need to reflect. What might seem inherently painful today, could morph into an experience that is what you’ve always needed but struggled to find. We can’t know if our changing circumstances will usher in a future happiness or suffering. We need time to feel into the fullness of what it’s like to go through sudden change – the feelings of disconnection, or despair, overwhelm or anger. Whatever you might be feeling when your life changes, give yourself the gift of patience.
You might just find that one day, even after the most painful changes, your life will have the very thing you have most needed all along.
Coping with Sudden Change
