Skills For Success

I don’t know about you, but I find this world changes so fast and so constantly that surviving it means learning how to manage it. 

Change is inevitable. Change is stressful. 

We all experience this stress of change. It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is, or what culture you live in, or how old you are.  

Speaking of age, one of the groups often forgotten include the elderly when it comes to experiencing stress with the changes they experience.  I watched many of my parents' generation go through these changes. Their changes may not be about getting along in the school yard, job loss, or raising children, but it is more about a change in their physical location, their physical bodies, loss of mate, and ... well you get the idea.  My own father has gone through all of these changes I just mentioned, and many more. 

I have had the privilege of watching him manage his changing world.  It cant' be easy for him. He is the only one left in his family of seven. His wife for over 50 years passed away eight years ago. Yet he continues to get up every morning and begin his day.

What have I learned by watching him? He confirms the studies on managing stress and change, which conclude that the key is to control the circumstances. Don't let the circumstances control you. Don't be a victim to your circumstances, whatever they might be.

By taking control of our reactions to the change and the resulting stress we can make it through the day. Remember the story of the little engine that could?  Continually saying, I think I can, I think I can convinced him that he could. And he did!

By the way, dad is 101 years old this summer. So I have a great teacher.