Change is inevitable

Change is one of the most difficult things that we face

But change is inevitable

One reason we don't like change

Is we get comfortable where we are

We get used to our friends, our job, the place we live

And even if it's not perfect we accept it, because it's familiar" - lyrics from ill mind of Hopsin 8 by Hopsin

While listening to music on my phone yesterday, a song by Hopsin titled ill mind of Hopsin 8 ended with a powerful message which is what I quoted above. I could totally relate to what Hopsin said because it's the same thing I do most of the time; I don't like change because I have become too comfortable in my shell.

Whenever I think of changing something in my life, I usually ask myself; "it's not broken, so why fix it?" This applies to almost all aspects of my life; Accommodation, job, academics, church and so many others.

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Take Accommodation for example, I have been staying in one apartment ever since I got into the university and I have gotten used to it. The funny thing is that some things aren't ok in the hostel, but I whenever I think of leaving, I usually ask myself some questions

"what if the hostel you relocate to is even worse than this current one? What if a wicked caretaker is in charge of the hostel? What if I don't like the rules in the hostel?" What if...what if...and more what-ifs.

The worst is now when I realize I have to interact with a new set of neighbors, it took me time to even get to know the ones in my current hostel. After thinking about all these, I will finally decide it's better to remain in my current hostel coz it's familiar.

The same thing applies to academics as well, coz I could remember I didn't like the course I was given when I was admitted into the university and I said I will transfer after a year.

I wanted to study medical laboratory science, but in the end, I was given fisheries, so I decided I will transfer to medical laboratory science after a year of doing fisheries, but what happened after a year? I suddenly loved fisheries, and I just concluded that I wouldn't even be able to do study medical laboratory science because it will be too difficult.

But one thing we should realize is that change is constant in life, and although it's scary to change certain things because it means we will be stepping out of our comfort zone, change can be really beneficial most of the time.

Take for instance someone that has a business in a small populated town, he makes a good amount of sales daily because he is the only one around but it's only a few people in the town that can afford to buy what he is selling.

He is advised by a friend to relocate to the city where he will have access to a lot of people who will be able to easily buy what he is selling and he will be able to make a lot more profits than what he is getting now, but he refused because he is scared of the competition in the city and he doubts if he will be able to do well as compared to being in the small town.

And that brings us to the main reasons why we are scared of change; fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). Fear of the unknown can prevent us from seeking change and it's usually the culprit most of the time.

Uncertainty and doubts are also part of the factors, and they work hand-in-hand with fear. Nothing in life is certain (except death) and that fact influences our decisions a lot because we have not been guaranteed success when we change the way we do things.

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Although I am scared of changing a couple of things in my life, there's one thing I am not afraid of changing and that's friends. I can be really picky when it comes to choosing friends and I don't even think twice before cutting off ties with anyone.

We need to know that everyone is not supposed to be in our lives forever and some friends we have are only relevant in certain aspects of our lives. Sometimes they act as a stepping stone for us to get to a certain level, and some friends are there to teach us a bitter lesson about life.

There's a need for us to constantly evaluate our friendships and cut off ties with those that aren't adding anything meaningful to our lives. Some friends are just there as an anchor, holding us in place and sometimes even pulling us down, and even after changing a couple of things in our lives, we still aren't progressing until we change the circle of friends we have.

Closing thoughts

Change can be really scary but sometimes it's necessary for us if we want to grow. Will a caterpillar transform into a beautiful butterfly if it refuses to change its appearance? Of course not, it will keep being a caterpillar and continue creeping on the earth instead of changing into a butterfly and flying through the air.

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But do change guarantee we will have something better? No, it doesn't. Sometimes changing something can make things worse and that's why it's important for us to know when to change something, as some things might not even need to change for it to be better.

We just have to trust our instincts for us to know when change is required; whenever something doesn't work out anymore like it used to, then it's probably time to change it. The fear of it blowing up in our faces is always going to be there, but there's still a chance that it will be a lot better than the old ways, but we will never know until we try, right?

Thanks for reading 💖💖💖

Monday November 15, 2021.