Change is hard, we all know this. Change in a life can have temporarily devastating effects. Road construction is a perfect example of this. The ultimate goal may be to extend the road to include additional lanes to ease the burden of traffic. But during construction, during change, the drive will be temporarily worsened. It’s a similar process to any change or metamorphosis. Caterpillars are one of this world’s creatures that take on one of the most dramatic and famous transformations. They actually go through many periods of growth before making the big transformation, and after each of these growth phases, they shed their skin
Just like the caterpillar, we go through many stages in our life. As a part of that process, we need to let go of the old and come out as something fresh and new. And yet our social support groups (friends, family, colleagues) have a tendency to keep us in our place. Don Miguel de Ruiz, in his book “The Four Agreements,” talks about our fear of change as a result of the human domestication process that begins when we are born and is reinforced throughout our childhood; it is a part of the process of becoming socialized into our parents’ culture, religion, or set of beliefs and values. As Don Miguel says, how we name children is part of this domestication – parents select a name and that is who the child becomes. There are many virtues in our culture that are considered important – intelligence, compassion, patience. However, one virtue that should be paramount in living your authentic life – the one you are on this earth to live – is courage. That is what it takes to change. Lots and lots of courage.
