Change isn’t always bad, but it’s often difficult if we like routine. Some changes are ovbvious, some are more subtle. Some changes can be anticipated while others are surprises. In many situations we can’t control our setting but we can control how we respond.
Examples
Schedule changes - they don’t have to be immediate or unexpected to be hard, they’re just hard sometimes
People changes - staff at places I go frequently, family adjustments (e.g., divorce or new baby), new neighbors, new coaches
Change in job duties - reduction OR addition of duties, processes, locations
Road detours
“New ownership” at restaurants
World changes like Pluto isn’t a planet, but then it is, but then it isn’t
“New meeting location” for clubs, teams, groups
Phone updates
Store rearrangements or remodels (why is cereal in a new aisle?!)
Expectations or regulations
A few factors that increase tolerance to change include exposure (the more we experience change, the more used to it we become),
The “I’ll get used to it, just bear with me while I adjust” doesn’t work for everything, but it gets me through most transitional phases. When work calls to tell me I’m teaching a different class next semester, rather than resist I try to ask questions to process the change, then I wait a day or so to think through the ‘pros’ of the new situation. By then usually I’ve accepted the change.
Accepting change doesn’t mean liking it. It just means dealing with it so it doesn’t consume our thoughts.