I just completed a Virtual Assistant Program and it’s something I’m ecstatic about. Simply because it’s a crossed milestone. There’s something about setting yourself up to achieve a particular goal and then achieving it despite facing a lot of obstructions and feeling like you should give up a few times. So, completing this was a big deal to me and the skills I learnt are things I know that will go a long way with me.
But one of the questions I was asked at the beginning of the program was, “How well do you handle change?” “Do you receive it well, do you know how to adapt to it?” And I was taken aback a bit. Because up till that moment I kept ticking myself high on the other soft skills like confidentiality, proactivity, emotional intelligence and what not. Then it got to adaptability to change, and I froze a bit because I had to think reflectively on how I handled change and if I knew how well to adapt to it.
I just have one friend or so that tells me things cause most of the other feel I usually have it all together, which isn’t true, a lot of times. But then she asked me one day why I withdraw so deeply when I’m faced with change. She recounted something that happened when a friend I held dear said we should take our relationship to the next level. I withdrew immediately because I’d become so comfortable with our friendship dynamic already. Then it suddenly felt that the dynamic I was used to was shifting slightly to something else and I didn’t know how to deal with that.
So, it’s something that I always felt bothered with. How to deal with change. How to adapt to it and how not to freeze when it happens. Change is something that a lot of us can’t deal with. But I think it wouldn’t be so correct if I say that negative change is the only kind of change I react badly to. Even positive change makes me freeze and then I set to panicking. How well am I going to do with this? What if I mess it up? What if I’m not enough? What if everyone is having too much faith in me and I end up disappointing everyone?
One of the principles of minimalism I enjoy so much and consistently strive for is Freedom. And I think freedom like a lot of other things start from the mind. If we can fine-tune our minds, I think emotional freedom, financial freedom and whatever kind of freedom we feel we need is possible. And so, every day is a struggle. A struggle not to panic and to deal well with change. And then I have to consciously tell myself when I’m panicking in the face of change that, “It’s all in your head, Tessa. The panic is real but it doesn’t determine who you are. You can free your mind.”
What I love about #transformationthursday is that I talk about the active changes I’m making in my life and how I try to be better. The good thing is to know that whether I like it or not, even in the subtlest of ways, I’m changing. I’m constantly transforming and that’s where it counts. So till whenever that is completed, which would be when I draw my last breath, I’ll try to let loose and embrace freedom. However way I can.
Jhymi🖤
Images are mine.
