Now, where did I lay that winning Lotto ticket? |
This
disorganized approach to sorting, or rather not sorting, mail is unsightly and
contributes to my life in quite unproductive ways. Yet I stubbornly (some might
say lazily) cling to my inefficient system of mail management. I refuse to
change. That is, until I miss paying a bill or something equally traumatic. Then
a miraculous thing happens: I change.
What is it about the process
of change that makes it hard for a good many people to do so, even when they
know it’s in their best interest? From simple acts like sorting
the mail to more
complex endeavors such as thinking differently about people
once you learn the truth
about them, change can be vexing.
Change is hard, from the
youngest baby to the oldest adult. That notion seems odd in and of itself, yet it
is the case so often. Then again, it's probably the most natural thing in the
world. It can be unsettling to experience new ways of thinking and being when young,
especially when the prospect of failure is present. At the same time, if you're
really familiar with something and in the habit of doing it a certain way, it
becomes comfortable and predictable. In both cases, change introduces a whole
set of unknowns.
But resistance to change
can have consequences. I experience this fact somewhat often, despite myself.
And it can be counterproductive.
For instance, a few years
ago I co-led a summer youth camp. Early on, I observed certain students in certain
ways. I considered some troublemakers. I viewed others as cooperative. My resistance
to change came when the students I had confidently placed into behavior ‘categories’
flipped the script on me and started behaving in ways counter to what I had initially
observed. They had changed. However, I found myself slow to change my own attitude
about their attitudes. In other
words, I mistakenly took it for granted that the students would never change, despite
the evidence in front of my eyes. As a result, my inability to follow their
change with my own hindered everyone’s capacity for learning – theirs as
students and mine as a budding instructor.
Much better - except I can't find anything |
On reflection, the ability
to change and adapt is one of the greatest gifts we possess as human beings. Without
change, so many of us are doomed to a limited form of existence. In so many
cases, trying to live without changing is stifling. But with it, the sky's the
limit. Now if only I can only find that bill I need to pay; it used to be on my
bedroom dresser.