Forms of Change & Uncertainty
Grieving loss is not solely about a death, even though death creates changes no one asked for or wanted. There are many forms of loss and ways to grieve. One form is change. Change seems to be the way life is shaped and moves in our own unique lives.
There is mourning in change. Change comes with the somber realization that things will not remain the same. This may incite feelings of uncertainty because change itself is guaranteed, but not necessarily the outcome.
Uncertainty does not mean changes are determined to be another survival story or something else to maintain in life.
Uncertainty offers another living opportunity.
Can change offer growth? Can uncertainty offer growth? Is there any evidence that it cannot?
This isn’t about embracing an all-negative or positive view or that certain feelings and experiences aren’t enough or too much, but rather encouraging grace and flexibility with change. The kind of grace that nurtures movement. Nurtured movement involves shifting; it’s active and alive. Even pain means you are responding to something shifting as much as joy is responding to something shifting. Some questions to consider regarding movement:
What is okay holding onto? What is not?
What kind of season is this: shedding and pruning, preparation and planning, reflection, abundance, or harvest?
What is not being given time and energy? What is being given time and energy?
What is valued or prioritized now that wasn’t before? Is the difference significant or not?
Change with movement can look like these kinds of forms:
Learning to love from a distance
Settling into peace even when disturbed
Embracing rest rather than hustle
Openness to being polished by values and beliefs, not pressured by fear
Being okay with mess and being seen in a mess
Acting on a single movement rather than a thousand intentions
Encouragement from someone who is in a different life stage than you
Seeing love as safe again
Finding resources where you did not expect or anticipate
Adjusting to a new lifestyle, even when it’s beneficial
Making a choice that was the best to make at the time and still feels hard
Leaving a familiar place
Not having the means or capacity that once was, and not apologizing for it
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but examples. There is a choice even when it seems like there isn’t one. No one can take away your autonomy, worth, value, or inherent being, but life will present itself in a manner of ways. How do you want to move with change and uncertainty?
