Welcome it, definitely. On the whole, change is the dreaded unknown and many people function best from stability and familiarity, especially people who like to control their environment. Change has the power to destroy confidence momentarily and to disturb equilibrium, hence why many people tend to feel uncomfortable about it and even try to avoid it where they can.

I am very easy with change because I have few fears. I am always evolving, changing without even realising it. Anything new tends to excite rather than deter me. I guess that comes from being a pioneer in most things I do, which takes change in my stride and seeks to utilise the opportunities it might bring. In a word, I love it, but I also tend to enjoy some stability, as long as it doesn't feel stale. I guess it is about having a happy balance. 

People usually fear change for two main reasons:
a. Fear of Difference - which robs them of their cosy familiarity, their known comfort zones and challenges them with the unknown. Difference makes people feel uncomfortable as they might not be able to use their old experience, skills and knowledge to guide them under the changed situation. This immediately puts them at a disadvantage, robs them of their confidence and makes them mistakenly believe they might not be able to cope, or they might find it hard to LEARN to deal with the new prospect;

b. Fear of Loss - relating to:
* feelings of security (it makes them very insecure for a while, until they are familiarised again)

* personal significance (their old knowledge and experience might become obsolete and they will be surplus to requirement)

* status (that someone else will have more power and influence or they might even be replaced altogether)

* benefits (these could be removed or new benefits being inadequate).

In my mind, life has to be LIVED and for that we have to take risks; have to move forward and try new things. If we are not moving, not changing, not evolving, we are actually dead! Because only death is static and unchanging. Just think that if the pioneers within medicine hadn't gone with their hunches and tried all kinds of new inventions we wouldn't be enjoying the medical miracles we have today. 

If we don't change we just exist, and sometimes that is even worse than death because fear becomes the dominant feeling which controls everything and limits all potential and automatic growth. We become fossils in time without direction, without purpose and without development.

©Elaine Sihera (Ms CYPRAH) 2011
Emotional Health and People Management Consultant
"Respect and love begin with the self. If we have none, how can we give away any?"