by: Jason Johns

Change is something we all go through all the time, though we may not realise it. We cannot actually see change happening, we just see the results of change. Sometimes change is easy, other times it is a long and torturous process.

How difficult change is depends a lot on your attitude towards it and your resistance to it. You attitude to change can itself change, and make the whole transformation process much easier to bear. It all depends on your perspective.

Imagine change as a pair of shoes, this will help you understand change and how it works. Let me explain.

I am sure that you have at sometime in your life had a comfortable pair of shoes. You know the sort I mean. A pair of shoes so comfortable that you really don't want to ever get rid of them and you wish you had bought a dozen pairs at the same time. The fit your feet so perfectly you can almost forget you are even wearing shoes.

You know you need a new pair, and may even have them, but you don't want to wear them because you are comfortable with your current pair. Besides, the new pair may hurt your feet, give you blisters or be awkward to wear to start with. So, you resist the new shoes. However, a part of you knows that this new pair would be much better for your feet, and after the initial discomfort would probably be even more comfortable, yet still you resist.

Do you know I'm doing this now? I'm wearing my comfortable shoes and they feel good. They have a hole in each heel, and the sole is starting to fall off, but I'm persisting in wearing them. I even have a new pair of shoes under my desk as I write this. But my feet are used to the old comfy pair. The new pair is tighter, and hotter in this summer weather. I know I shouldn't wear my old shoes because they cause a callus where the inside of the shoe has worn thin, but still I persist.

This describes change exactly; change of our habits, change of our thought patterns. We stick with the old patterns because they are comfortable. Yet we know we need to change and that the change will ultimately be good for us. Once we get over the initial pain of the transformation, the new pattern will be comfortable and feel good … until the time comes when we need another new pair of shoes …