Embracing Change

By Fatma Bujsaim (@FatmaBujsaim)

I have recently noticed that people in general tend to stick with what they are used to and would avoid change in any way possible. I must confess, I am one of those people myself. I never noticed this in myself until someone told me “you must change (named a certain thing) in order to progress and develop.” I was very defensive at the beginning but tried later on to understand the other person’s point of view.

After that incident, I started to observe people, myself included. I noticed that a lot of us do not want to change certain things. When asked why, our answer would be as simple as “just because.” but because what? And we would answer the same thing again: “just because.”

“Just because” is not a good answer; and so I observed closer and closer. Some of us just like what we have or where we are and refuse the thought of change. There are some of us who might not be satisfied with what we have yet refuse change because of fear. Fear of failure maybe or fear of unhappiness; it could be fear of anything depending on the individual himself or herself.

But of course, not all change is healthy. On one hand, we have changes that are for the best, positive change. They help us develop, grow, and become happier in different ways. Positive change not only affects us but also the people around us. On the other hand, we have changes that are for the worse, negative change. Those changes create chaos, destruction, and only end up bringing us down.

A change does not mean being different for the sake of being different. A change is an alteration. Whether it was to the better or worse depends on how the individual decides to make those changes. But when facing an issue that requires us to change something that we got used to, we must consider every angel and side of the situation and the consequences. To what path the change itself will lead to lies on us. We not only create change, we also create its possibilities.

At some point in life, everyone around us will change and will become different from who they were before. We never remain in the same place forever; life moves us forward. We need to learn to stop fighting change and start accepting it. I am proud to say that through the advice given to me, I have embraced change. I believe it is growth in my abilities as a person; from today, I am no longer writing my signature line.

June 2011’s issue:

Here We Start – Community Talk – Food for Thought – Just Another Undergrad
Living Through The Eyes of Art – Microscopic Me – Scenes From Life
Society of Tomorrow – To The Point – Words, Observations, and Ramblings