5 Ideas to Help Embrace Change
Do you find yourself stuck in a rut? Going through the same routine from the minute you wake in the morning until you go to bed isn’t just boring, it can be stifling. Change isn’t always easy, but it can transform your life and reawaken your vitality. Ottawa Counselling Services can help you embrace change if you find life is getting bland and repetitive. Here are five ideas to kick-start change and open yourself up to new possibilities in life:
Change Your Routines
When you do the exact same things in the exact same order every day, your creative light starts to dull. Making small changes in your routines will keep you on your toes and reignite that spark in ways you never expected. Start with small changes, like putting on your left sock before your right one (or vice versa depending on your usual habits). Rearrange your bedroom or work desk. Walk the dog in the opposite direction as usual. Once you adjust to these little changes, adjusting to big changes will be that much easier.
New Tastes
Once we reach a certain age, we become pretty set in our tastes. We know exactly what kind of food, music, books, movies, clothes, exercise, and hobbies we like, so why try anything else? But then have you ever had a friend recommend a new restaurant or author to you and fallen in love? Open yourself up to new tastes in all areas of life. Try dragon fruit or Ethiopian cuisine. Start learning Mandarin, or take up knitting. Pull a random book off the shelf at the library or select the first Netflix recommendation that pops up. Open yourself up to new things, even with the full possibility that you’ll hate it – what’s the worst that could happen?
A Playful Approach
Silliness usually expires in our childhood, but there’s no reason why it should. Playing with a child or pet is a great way to connect with your playful side and knock down some walls. Crank the tunes and dance around your house, or take up a fun sport like ultimate Frisbee or recreational Quidditch. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself and step outside of your regular personality on occasion.
Connect With Others
If you are usually a shy person or hesitant to talk to unfamiliar people, give yourself a challenge. It can be as simple as asking the bus driver about their day, or helping an older lady carry her groceries to her car. These little interactions add up in a big way by lightening your mood and drawing you closer to others. Change isn’t so bad when you realize it’s an essential part of the shared human condition.
Moving on From Possessions
Do you have a moth-eaten shirt that hangs unworn in your closet, but you keep for years because it’s familiar? A broken TV that you keep around just in case it will magically repair itself? Do you cling to an old apartment that you once shared with an ex? Part of change is freeing yourself from physical objects and seeing our lives continue even if our possessions change.
Embrace these little changes and lay the groundwork for whatever big changes await you. If change is still scary and foreboding, schedule an appointment with Ottawa Counselling Service for more resources on how to embrace change.