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Change is Scary, Hairy, & Necessary
by Melissa Martin Change is a Scary Six-Letter Word What is Change? Change. What is your definition of change? Interesting. What exactly do we mean by "change?" Roget's Thesaurus is full of synonyms: alter, modify, substitute, shift, conversion, transformation, transition, commutation, exchange. It is both a noun and a verb and can be altered to the adjectives "changeable" and "changeless." Change has an interesting etymology and evolved into different meanings depending on the context. In the Oxford English Dictionary the phrase "change of heart" is defined as a conversion to a different frame of mind. In his Sonnet, Shakespeare referenced it as "A woman's gentile heart, but not acquainted with shifting change." Webster, in his dictionary, wrote "To become or make different; to put with another; to use to take the place of another; to freshen a bed by putting clean coverings on; coins; money given back when the payment exceeds the bill." And there's the idiom "change of life" referring to menopausal women. The famed Serenity Prayer is about accepting what we can and cannot change with wisdom to know the difference. Of course we can't forget the old joke "How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?" with the answer being "Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change." Type in the word "change" on the Internet and numerous websites pop up: global climate change, social change, political change, economic change, career change, and a multitude of others. Alas, the definition of change is open to interpretation. Quotes about Change One change leaves the way open for the introduction of others-Niccolo Machiavelli It's not that some people have willpower and some don't, It's that some people are ready to change and others are not-James Gordon, MD Excerpt from chapter one of my workbook, Change is Scary, Hairy, & Necessary, Taming the Change Monster by Managing Life's Changes Personal & Interpersonal Change Management, a Self-Directed Change Workbook for Adults Copyright 2006 by Melissa Martin. Permission to use with proper credits. Melissa writes about the God and human connection and condition. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |