Change My Mind

A reflection on how we accept and adapt to change

By Katie Stedman

Change can be something that really bothers me.

I’m terrible at keeping my phone updated, because it means getting used to new features and settings. If a favourite food item is discontinued, I’m left searching for something new to replace it. Looking for a new job would mean saying goodbye to the workmates I already have.

None of these things are necessarily bad. In fact, change is nearly always made with the idea of advancement and improvement in mind—those new phone updates are designed to make things safer and more efficient; I’m now open to come across a healthier food alternative; that new job will help me grow as a person.

So why can it be so difficult to accept and embrace change? Does it mean that I’m lazy? Does it mean that I’m stuck in the past? Does everything about my life or society need to change? Does it mean that I don’t want to grow or advance as a person, or overcome new challenges?

The simple answer is ‘no’.

I know I’m not the only one that feels this way about change. But why are we like this?

I think it has a lot to do with personality. Some of us are naturally bigger risk-takers, and others have a well-defined comfort-zone. Some of us can adapt easily to the changes, and others need to feel in control of certain aspects of their lives.

Change is a concept that looks to the future, and so it can be debilitating to constantly look to the past as a comparison. How can we know the old option was better without first having given the new option a go? On a larger scale, change provides hope that things will get better, and on a smaller scale, it shows how effective and beneficial little changes can be.

We still have a long way to go, but society would not be where it is today without change. Not many people would be happy about losing the benefits that have come with change— healthcare, rights, electricity, sanitation, education and so on.

We can’t stop change, but we can change the way we view it.