Change is good, right? Well, even if we don’t like change – it’s inevitable. I think the hardest kind of change is not physical (like moving to a new house). I believe the hardest change is in shifting our mindset. It’s easy to go about our day in our “normal” routine, and not even have to really think about things. You know, like driving somewhere and thinking “How did I get here? I don’t remember the drive!” Sometimes we are so much on auto-pilot that we forget to actually be present and aware of what’s happening around us, or even to us.
Changing our mindset starts with awareness. And just like anything, if you want lasting change, you have to work at it – it takes practice, it takes time.
These past few months I’ve gone through quite a few changes in my own mindset – all good (thanks for asking) – but it’s been a journey. I’ve had many conversations (with other people, with myself, with God) about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. I’ve had realizations and breakthroughs. I’ve stumbled and failed. I’ve had ah-ha’s about getting back to the big Why. Why I do what I do? And I’ve had more than my share of doubt. I won’t get into all the specifics, but I will tell you this: I keep getting up and I keep going.
Things may not look exactly how I expected or hoped them to be by this time in my life, but that is exactly what is so great about life. You can’t ever fully predict what will happen, or what you will do, because you never know exactly how a situation or circumstance will manifest. True, we can do our best to plan for what’s approaching and be good stewards and do our due diligence, but the future is never certain. It can change in an instant – for good or for bad.
My biggest lesson, and what I want to share with you is this: Stay in the present moment. Don’t let the what-ifs of the future run your day (or your life). You can visualize how you want your day to go, you can plan and prepare, but worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet just causes unnecessary stress and anxiety, and it doesn’t serve you (or anyone else around you, for that matter). On the flip side, don’t keep mulling over what has already happened. What’s in the past is done and cannot be changed. Take the experience, learn from it, and move on.
How does this relate to changing your mindset? In this case, it’s all about expectations.
Change your mindset to manage your expectations, and be at peace with whatever happens.
It’s all for a reason, even if you don’t know what the reason is yet, or if you don’t understand why something happened a certain way. Trust me, you’ll be happier and more peaceful if you stay focused on the present moment, and living fully with what is happening right now.
Here’s to the BEST version of YOU,
Pamela Zimmer