The idea of change throughout people’s lives is usually something that a lot of people anticipate in fear, causing feelings of anxiety and worry and ultimately leading people to hold themselves back. There can be a comfort in fearing change, as it acts as an internal justification that mentally restricts people from acting outside of their comfort zone and taking part of new experiences. But change can and show be used as a positive tool for self growth, development and maturing.
Seeing change as a positive thing is entirely down to mindset. In my personal situation, starting university this year was a great change, moving away from home, from everything I love and everyone I love, essentially moving away from MY comfort. Naturally, I feared this change, which is extremely valid and expected – but I was tired of feeling scared. I felt stagnant in my own mind, as a lot of my energy went towards panicking and worrying, which despite being fair, made me feel stuck.
I decided to channel my worry into my excitement, which a part of me did always feel but the negative emotions outweighed the positive. A way that helped me was to invert my anxious thoughts, for example, instead of being worried that I would struggle to make friends, or that people would not like me. Slowly I began to feel grateful that I have a new chance to meet so many people, as I never know who I am going to meet, and I realised that if I have to change myself for people to like me, thenI probably do not want to be friends with those people either. Yes, there will be people that you do not click with, but there’s also a great chance you meet people that you’ll be friends with for a very long time. Another example is that I was nervous about being behind in my course and struggling with the new structure, but now I realise that I should be grateful for this chance to study something I love for this long, and that I may never have a chance like this again as I grow into adulthood and the working world.
Changing your mindset is not as easy and I am making it sound, but it’s a rewarding journey to embark on. It takes active self reminders in the moments where you find yourself overthinking, which in itself takes a lot of energy and time. However, constantly living in fear of change makes it difficult for you to grow and discover things about yourself. Ultimately, it’s unproductive.