MINI-COURSE: FACE YOUR PROBLEMS WITHOUT FEAR! HOW CHANGE CAN AFFECT YOUR HEALTH AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT - PART ONE

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There is one thing in life that is absolutely certain: Everything is uncertain. Practically all things keep changing all the time. Throughout your whole life you must live through changes, and the way you handle them is vital to your health and wellbeing.
 
Change happens in a lot of different ways. Some happen by your own choice, like if you decide to get married, move to a new place or change your job. Others are  more or less forced upon you, like losing your job, having a car accident or experiencing a partner breakup or sudden death in your family.
 
Some changes in life happen suddenly and you can't really prepare for them. Others happen slowly, over time, like the fact that you're getting older. Whatever the case is, it's importat that you handle change in a good way so you can benefit from it instead of getting hurt by it.
 
Some changes can be very positive, but - as you know - they often feel negative. However, even negative changes can have positive aspects in them and turn into something good, because they force you to start thinking in a new way and maybe take some positive action in a new direction.

To make this content digestible for you, I've created it as a Mini course over several days.
Today, let's take a closer look at various types of change that you might experience in your life, and how they may affect your health and wellbeing.
 

1) Conscious / chosen change
 
This could be anything from the most insignificant thing, like a new haircut or choosing to take a different way to work, to the more significant things like moving to a new home, starting a new relationship or quitting your job. The consequences and the impact these changes will have on you will of course vary from person to person. But at least those are changes that you've had some time to prepare for, because they are all changes that you have chosen, and you've been planning them for a longer og shorter period of time according to what you've considered necessary. Even if the result doesn't always turn out quite the way you had pictured it, a thorough estimation of various options will help you avoid a lot of stress and trauma that are normally connected to change.
 
 
2) Unwanted / forced change
 
If you have (for example) been in an accident, have suddenly lost your job or have been left by someone you love (like a partner or spouse), you've experienced negative, unwanted change in your life. Or - like we have all experienced recently: A global pandemic occurs.
 
Positive unplanned change could for example be winning the lottery or meeting the man of your dreams. Both of these changes seem wonderful, don't they? But the impact this kind of change has on you could sometimes feel just as traumatic as the impact or consequence of negative change, because you haven't been able to prepare for it.
 
 
3) Progressive change

Some changes are inevitable. We all get older. We all have to deal with the loss of a loved one at some point in our life, and we are all going to die eventually. We realize all this quite early in life.
 
But none of these changes necessarily have to be considered negative. They could all be seen as just parts of a larger pattern that we gradually become more aware of as time goes by.
 
 
4) Short-term / temporary change
 
Of course there are some changes that are only temporary, and then things will go back to normal. But not always.
 
Maybe you've had a short stay in a hospital, a quarrel with your partner, or a conversation with a relative. You wouldn't think that these things could dramatically change the status quo, would you?
But no change in life is completely without consequences for the people involved.
 
Maybe your stay in the hospital created an anxiety in you regarding your health, - an anxiety you didn't feel before...
Maybe the quarrel you had with your partner made you look at him in a completely different way ... and not in a positive way.
Maybe your relative told you something about a family member that totally changed the way you think or feel about that person from now on...
 
Each in their own way, short-term changes can have an equally dramatic impact on you as those changes that are meant to be permanent.
 
 
5) Permanent change
 
Wether the permanent change in your life is chosen, forced upon you or progressive, you'll probably still feel that either you or your lifestyle has been turned completely upside-down by it.
However: The fact that the change is inevitable, seems to somehow make it easier to handle it. Once the change has happened, it's amazing how quickly most people adapt to their new situation.
 
This doesn't necessarily mean that they blindly or passively accept it. It's more a matter of facing the situation with a positive mind and treating it like a challenge that has its own, special reward.
 
 
How change can affect your health
 
Change - whether positive or negative - stir up a lot of different emotions, like excitement, anxiety, anger, guilt, grief, happiness or joy. In order for those emotions not to put too much pressure on you, it's of vital importance that you learn to acknowledge and liberate them. Don't try to oppress or hide them, because this can 1) lead to physical and mental problems in the future, and 2) send the wrong message to the people around you so they don't know what you expect from them and therefor they are not able to help and support you.

All change can be stressful. Even when it's related to the happiest event of your life, like getting married. Wedding preparations can put a lot of pressure on those who are most involved, as we can all imagine.
 
You'll learn more about how you can handle change as we move on through this Mini-course. Lesson # 2 will be available tomorrow, so make sure you don't miss that.

See you then!