“The second that you decide to change something for the better, it just did!”
~ Jim Sebastian Sharman
You might recall in Chapter 1 of my book, “INSPIRE Starts With I”, the phrase that change happens instantaneously – *click* – and you might have found yourself wondering where your change is coming from, when it feels like everything is still all the same.
You’re wondering where the spark is; you’re concerned that maybe you missed it.
Remember though – the second you decide to improve something in your life, it already changes – just by virtue of you imagining it becoming better. Stage 1 is done.
By creating that spark, you start a chain reaction, you ignite a flame of passion and desire for change. And now it needs to be nurtured. Be very aware of how you feel and act once that decision has been made.
Understand that when you follow up on that desire, there are potential outcomes you just can’t foresee yet. Such outcomes benefit you, of course, but also everyone else to whom you expose that change!
Feel inside yourself where the change occurs, where the spark came from – that’s the place to stay in touch with and where you nurture, feed and fan that flame.
Is it your adrenalin-fuelled heart pounding with passion? Is it your endorphins-powered brain synapses firing away with inspiration? Is it your animal-driven gut instinct roaring with approval?
Wherever it is happening, it’s often a raw, physical, tangible, very real, and very powerful sensation responding to (or, depending on your belief system actually causing) your decision – and it needs to be kept alive, as that’s now your source of inspiration. Feed it!
And nobody can make your change happen for you. Sure, you might be influenced or inspired by someone’s actions – but those actions were a result of their own spark.
The inspiration you feel could well be the catalyst to a chain of events that will improve your life forever, yet the decision still comes from within you. It’s now an invitation for you to dare to sparkle, to start your own fire within.
When you do, when that fire grows, it gives heat and light to you – even better, it can create a light for others to follow, heat for others to warm their tired bodies and souls by.
At other times, it will take time for your flame to be seen and felt by others – remember, you won’t always receive as instantaneous a response as the one you had internally when you decided to change…
But once it is noticed, you can’t possibly predict how many other people will then kick start their own process, be their own spark, and generate massive change in themselves. And so it goes.
When it comes to the kind of change I look to facilitate in others, I work primarily in the space that facilitates the breakthrough of change’s necessity, softening the blow when change has been a tough journey and ensuring the greatest benefit can be derived by those experiencing it.
This is something that I have applied as much to my personal life as to my professional persona – and there is little difference between the two, because the latter is defined by the former, yet my career choice is inevitably a result of how and who I am and have become!
Change has been a constant presence in my life – and not always by choice! But here’s another crucial thing that I have learnt about it:
Change can be a very scary thing!
The fear of the unknown has existed in us since the dawn of time. Yet, consider how many times you’ve approached then endured change, only to discover that, although the experience itself was hard or challenging, in the end it led either directly or indirectly to positive change.
Typical examples of “change” here could be moving house, changing careers, emigrating to a new country, ending a relationship, or dealing with a shift in personal health circumstances.
I’ve experienced all of those, and the hardest part was accepting that change itself is inevitable. What made the positive difference was understanding that change can be enriching, rewarding and even enjoyable.
If we open ourselves up to the possibility that change, in whatever form it’s taking, can be constructive, something to look forward to even, then we open ourselves up to a multitude of different possible outcomes too, thus we enact the principle of ‘manifestation’…
…we can actually direct the result of change itself to our benefit, even purposely instigating change as a necessary part of growth, in soul and mind. What you can control is your reaction to it. Why make it painful when you can make it joyful?
Sometimes it feels like the Universe is saying a massive “No!” to you, when change comes. Let us conclude then that, sometimes, this is only because it has prepared for us a much bigger and brighter “Yes!” just around the corner.
Will you shift your approach to change and see it as a positive, joyful driving force that you can use to create a future much closer to the one of your dreams? Will you improve the rest of your life by deciding right now what changes will result in a better-looking future?
