When the power went out I bet many of you were wondering how having no power would affect your daily life. Your life was already hard enough to begin with. Your stress level was already at its limit. And then the stress and problems of a power outage was added to it all. So what is this situation an example of? It is an example of our human resistance to change.
When something is changed in our life we seem to get angry or concerned about it. This anger and concern is what leads to riots and protests throughout the world. Someone in the government makes a change and there is most often a group of people that don’t agree with it. This disagreement sometimes may be based on reasoning, but it may also be based on anger and frustration due to our resistance to change. After a few days or weeks with the change we may start to agree with it and wonder why we disagreed with it in the first place. So wouldn’t it be better if we reduce our resistance to change before our anger gets the best of us? I think so.
But first, let me give you a more specific example of how our resistance to change can make life more difficult. Lets say that your friend does something that you do not completely agree with. You cannot believe that they would ever do such a thing. You then get angry with them for doing so without thinking about their side of the argument. Then, the fight between friends begins and it seems like the disagreement will last forever. But if you wait for the anger and frustration to dissipate and then talk to your friend it is more likely that the conversation will end in a hug. Hopefully, looking back, you and your friend will able to look back on that fight, not with anger, but with an open mind. So wouldn’t you want a way to reduce that anger and resistance before it leads to breaking a friendship apart? I have a way to make this happen.
First of all, you can count to ten and wait for the anger to subside before you respond to the change. It is much easier to think clearly when anger is not clouding your judgment. You can also try not to complain or make comments about the change. Complaining only adds to the stress and makes the anger last much longer. Thirdly, if you are in a fight with your friend, you can try to look at the situation through their eyes and with their perspective. It will allow the anger to subside and also help you understand what your friend is going through. It will also allow you to think of what to say to your friend to keep your friendship alive. So what has this taught us? It’s simple really…
“When something in your life has changed, don’t let the anger make your life rearranged.”
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