What is Change and How Thinking in Rainbows Can Make it Work for You
Change is perhaps the only true constant in life.
Change can arrive suddenly and unexpectedly, it can be longed for yet reluctant to arrive, or it can creep in so slowly that the realization that it arrived at all can take us by surprise. Holding change back is as futile as trying to hold back the tides or seasons and speeding the process up is like trying to ripen fruit with a hair dryer. Change can be the greatest challenge between humans and our sense of control.
I use the word ‘sense’ deliberately – we have very little to none in the face of change! If you think back to the times you worked hard to be in control of change – were you really? Can you think of a time when you believed you were in control and life threw you a curve ball? I know I can!
Everywhere around me, in my environment and in the wider world I see, hear and feel the winds of change. Some gentle and welcomed with open arms, some rough and scary, some longed for and now regretted, some blowing a rite of passage path and some rattling at closed shutters. The current storm is blowing so hard that my instinct is to turn my back, close my eyes and brace myself against the wind, but this time I chose to look for rainbows instead. My ‘rainbow’ strategy has been so positive and useful that I wanted to share it with you for the next period of change in your life.
When change arrives, it tends to bring black-and-white stress thinking along for the ride however desired the change may be. Thinking in rainbows can not only help you through a period of change, but it can also help you to get the very most out of any change:
Red
Red reminds me of my heart and the things that are most important to me. Connecting with my values, my strengths and my purpose keeps my feet on the ground and my compass fixed on true North. I ask myself:
- What am I most passionate about?
- What is most important to me?
- What red thread will I hold onto while the winds of change are blowing?
- What is my anchoring foundation?
- What are my core values and strengths?
- What will keep me anchored to my purpose?
Orange
Orange is my traffic light reminder to pause and prepare myself – not for each eventuality of the change – that can be exhausting. Instead, I prepare to be my best self whatever happens. I ask myself:
- What do I most need to meet change with positivity?
- What do I need if the ride is short and bumpy?
- What do I need most if it turns into a Grand Tour?
- What do I need to put in place for myself?
- What might I need to prepare for to see the gifts in this situation?
- Which of my strengths and skills have I forgotten?
Yellow
Yellow is my sunshine and energy. It is my reminder to keep an eye on my own energy levels and know when and how to recharge myself. I ask myself:
- What makes my heart sing?
- What gives me energy?
- How can I check my energy levels?
- How will I know if my charge gets too low?
- How can I recharge – especially in the middle of a storm?
- Knowing myself the way I do, what will I need to do to keep my energy high?
Green
Green is nature and new beginnings for me. Having a dog means that I am outside in nature every day, but I can rush the walk with a sense of stress, or I can choose to notice the woods with all my senses and ask:
- What message does today’s weather have for me?
- What wisdom does this season have for me?
- What does nature naturally know that I have forgotten?
- How do the woods I’m walking through react to change?
- What might the birds above me see that I can’t yet?
- What seeds of new beginnings are perhaps waiting patiently for the right conditions to sprout?
Blue
Blue is water, flow and vitality. When all the natural streams emptied for the first time in 20 years I’ve been here during the last very hot summer, and it was a shock. It reminded me just how much I take the flow of water for granted. I ask myself:
- Where is there flow in my life?
- What do I know can cause blockages?
- How do I know when I’m out of flow?
- What can I do to keep an eye on my level of flow?
- What do I need to stay in flow in a storm?
- What can I do now to keep my flow in a drought?
Purple
Purple is wealth, power, royalty and loyalty. It is my reminder that every change brings gifts, learning and opportunities. As we just lost our Queen, I am reminded that the first thing that is declared after the death announcement is ‘God save the King.’ I ask myself:
- What is most important and never changes for me?
- What gifts are wrapped in this ‘change’ wrapping paper?
- What is stopping me from opening potential gifts?
- What do I need to do to fully honour things I am saying goodbye to?
- What do I need before I can be fully present and loyal to the ‘new king’ situation?
- What am I seeing as ‘negative’ and what other perspectives can I look from?
Preparing for, working through, and getting the best out of change with your coach is the best way of creating and strengthening your foundation, being fully prepared and keeping your energy high and in flow. The more you work on these elements, the more you will see change as a gift-bearing friend and not a storm to endure.
Get in touch to ensure more colour and less storm in your life
Don’t forget to check the blog page again next week to read my latest poem, titled “Change”.