Since we are little our parents are in charge of creating a safe environment for us, they provide us with attention, and care, and seek to cover all our needs.
Learning how to walk is a great act of self-confidence since we discover that now we can be in another position, that we can move without being in the arms of dad or mom, and that I can go to take something that I couldn’t’ reach before, at the same time, routines and schedules are implemented in our day to day: bedtime, eating, going to school when we enter school age, and thus we focus on things and activities to be done.
Other activities are added to these activities as we get older, whether it be going out with friends, playing sports and more, so we forge routines and itineraries in our lives that make us feel in a safe environment.
But without a doubt at some point in our walk through life, there will be unpredictable moments, unplanned circumstances that make that stability turn 180° and it can be in any area, from having to move house, losing a job, or losing a close and loved one.
Life will not ask us, simply because we are human, we are exposed to situations that we thought were stable changing from one moment to another. When we choose what to change, it is even something pleasant, like when we move the furniture to create more space or get a new haircut, when I add a new routine to my day like exercising or having an activity that I like.
We see changes directed by us as positive, but everything takes on a different perspective when the changes come unexpectedly, not having the option to choose makes us feel vulnerable, and the first reaction is to want to return everything to the way it was, and when we discover that we cannot do it, there are two options: to be frustrated or to accept.
Of the multiple situations that may arise, there will be some in which we can do something, but there will be others in which it will not depend on us, so we must be flexible and understand that life is full of changes, that although some are difficult to face, we will have the ability to adapt and that it can also be a great opportunity to discover new skills and aptitudes that we would not otherwise have discovered. Each one has different ways of coping with changes, an example of this was when the emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced.
While some people preferred to feel anxiety, uncertainty, and fear of being isolated and confined at home, others saw it as an opportunity to spend time with the family, to come up with new activities, to learn crafts, recipes, to read more, etc.; this teaches us that the perspective we have of the situation is essential to choose the meaning we want to give it. I take advantage of it to grow, create, discover, or I remain sunk in frustration and denial. What we must be sure of is that there will continue to be changes in our lives, and that each of us can develop the tools to deal with them in the best way when they arise. We just have to discover them and know that we are capable.
