Change: It's Inevitable

Whether you resist it or face it head on, change is always occurring. For me, recently, I have been embracing change. It is not an easy process, but I know that it will result in positive growth.
Sometimes the hardest part of change is dealing with the reaction of those in your environment. People get comfortable with your maintaining the norm. It serves as their cue for how to function. Therefore, if you change, it will require the people around you to adjust their pattern of behavior. Basically, you have started a chain reaction requiring everyone to make adjustments. Everyone will not be a "happy camper."

Martha Beck (2004) states that "any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self...is a full-on [human] metamorphosis" (http://www.oprah.com/article/spirit/inspiration/pkgcelebrateyou/omag_200401_beck).
She describes this metamorphosis as occurring in four phases:

1.) Dissolving- Loss of identity due triggered by a life event
2.) Imagining- Visualizing a new identity and a new life
3.) Reforming- Implementation to make #2 a reality
4.) Flying- New identity fully formed

Beck's perspective is that there are ways to embrace each stage and fully experience where you are in your transition. She lists strategies to implement that will optimize the benefits of each phase. Beck also notes that you may move in and out and even repeat some phases before you reach the fourth stage. Ultimately, at some point in life, you will start all over at one and work your way to four again.

After all, we are works in progress, so change is inevitable.