How I’m Surviving Change

This is the last newsletter you’ll receive!

OK, so that’s not really true. But it is the last one I’ll be writing to you from my home in Michigan. Except that’s not true either. But it definitely is the last one I’ll be writing from my home in Michigan for the next six months. My sorceress wife (they call themselves ‘chemists’ these days, but I know the truth) has taken a six-month assignment in Texas, and so we’ll be moving to a tiny little town south of Houston and near the Gulf of Mexico. I’m excited about skipping a winter, and I’m going to resist the urge to buy a belt buckle the size of my face.

I’m less excited about moving, though. Webster dictionary defines the word moving as “even crappier than sharing your freshman year dorm room with a smelly person.” Right now we have a house that has fancy amenities like a ‘garage’ and ‘extra rooms,’ and we’re going to be trading that for an apartment that I’ve been led to understand is the size of a thimble. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with my tuba collection.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ve been asked to move several times in your life – new house, new city, new job, new responsibilities – and you’ll probably be doing it several more times in the future. Moving almost always means a significant change in the way we’re living our lives, and sometimes that can seem daunting. So here are a few things that will help you survive your next move, whatever type that happens to be.

Learn a Lot About Where You’re Going

The reason change tends to bother all of us is because it involves a lot of uncertainty. It follows that the more you learn, the less uncertain you’ll be – and the more likely you are to realize that there are some really good things about where you’re going. For example, I now know that there’s a giant scuba diving lake nearby in Texas. I’ve always wanted to learn how to scuba dive, but I’ve also always wanted to not get eaten by a shark. Now I’ll be able to do both!

Focus on the Positives

Duh. But I had to say it. Unless your move has been forced upon you, there are obviously some great reasons for taking the steps you are. And even if you have been forced into this, there are still great things to come. And even if those great things are super hard to find, looking for them is still better than convincing yourself that everything good has finally and forever come to an end.

Mourn a Little

Grieving the loss of something precious is a natural part of our lives, and it’s usually a lot healthier than just ‘dealing with it’ (which typically involves doing anything but dealing with it, by the way). It’s OK to be sad to leave a beloved home or job or team, and you shouldn’t stop yourself from moping a bit. But if you’ve done the first two things I mentioned, your mourning will ultimately end up being a positive experience instead of a death spiral down the abyss of crippling misery. Contrary to popular opinion, death spirals aren’t actually as enjoyable as they sound.

Our lives involve constant movement, and that has the potential to make life constantly annoying. Or constantly interesting, depending on how you choose to look at things. For myself, I shall say goodbye to my beloved tubas and hope that there aren’t any lake monsters in that scuba diving place. But I flat-out refuse to buy a giant belt buckle. You’ve done a few things right, Texas, but that wasn’t one of them.