Change

So we all like to have options. We like to be able to chart our own course and pave our own way as the saying goes. We love to be able to look to the life we’ve mounted for ourselves and decide what we want to do with the life we have to live.

We live in a time in which we like to create options when options aren’t necessary. I mean seriously, do you really need to recreate the wheel when the wheel is working just fine? I was talking to someone the other day about a change he was trying to make in his routine. I was struck by the fact that this individual didn’t even know why he was making the change. Change for change sake is not really a good idea.

The problem with changing things up when you don’t really have a good reason to change them is that change causes turmoil, brokenness and conflict. By nature we don’t like change, so bringing change to a situation that is charged with uncertainty will only make the uncertainty greater. It’s the old adage if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. How true is that statement?

Think about it, you don’t change the tire in your car just because you feel like it. You wait until the tread is worn thing or it goes flat. Change for change sake just makes life harder than it has to be.

But there is a time when change is needed. When the system isn’t working. When harm is being inflicted. When someone, including yourself, is in danger. When a better, more productive method is present. These are some of the times when change is not only warranted but even encouraged.

When it comes time to bring change into your life, make sure to go slowly. All too often when it comes to change, we either refuse to change and stay in a harmful situation, throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak, or change something that isn’t the real problem.

Before you make decisions on what needs to change and what doesn’t remember the car analogy. You have to evaluate the real problem, assess the size of the problem, then fix the problem (keep in mind you may need to seek help to fix some problems).

Evaluate the problem.

If your car has one of those cool indicator lights on the dashboard, it might tell you that you need an oil change. When that little dummy light turns on, it’s saying hey dummy change oil. Sometimes we rush into our troubles and address the wrong problem. We feel like something isn’t right or see something that is just a little off so we run away from everything we know to be true. That’s like seeing a light turn on in the dashboard and thinking our car is going to blow so you trade it in for a new one when all it needed was an oil change. Don’t overreact to the dummy lights in your life. If you slow down you’ll see more clearly the problem they are indicating.

Assess the size of the problem

When we realize what the problem is then we can determine who can address the problem. Some problems we can easily manage, others we can’t. When we assess the size of the problem we honestly, truthfully seek to find the best possible outcome for the problem at hand. It is often helpful in this stage to invite someone you trust to come alongside you to ask you some questions to help clarify what you’re seeing. In the car situation above, this is looking at the owner’s manual to see what the little light means, calling a friend who’s a mechanic, or even taking it somewhere to have one of those cool code readers attached to help diagnose the problem. We don’t need to go changing oil in a car that has low tire pressure. Seeing the size of the problem will help you better understand how and who can fix it.

Fix the problem

When you’ve effectively evaluated the situation, determined the problem and its size and know who can fix it. You need to make the appointment or set the time aside in your schedule and just get the job done. I’ve seen many people, read the indicator light correctly, realize who can fix the problem, but then they don’t do anything with the problem. They let it just sit there and fester and grow and get out of hand. The longer the problem sits without being taken care of the bigger it gets and likely the more damage is done. Remember the car scenario…know what happens when you don’t change the oil as you’re supposed to? Maybe nothing today or tomorrow but if you go long enough you can tear apart an engine. The same is true of your problems. If we don’t fix the right problem, we’ll end up with a lot of expense and be no better off. Likewise if we know the problem and do nothing we’ll be living in the carnage of our laziness.

So change sucks sometimes but when we’re honest, methodical, and intentional about the situation we’ll end up with a well oiled machine called life that we can drive. (Yeah I know bad pun but I’m a dad so what can you expect.)

There you have it. Change is hard but the right change at the right time by the right person is essential.