According to my taxi driver this morning, a change is as good as a rest. Maybe it was because I hadn’t had my coffee yet, but I started wondering if that was really true. What are the benefits of change?

Is change really restful?

I often find that people see change as quite a stressful experience. The unfamiliar ‘chaos’ can be hugely challenging and quite scary, especially if it’s been imposed on you and you have for example been made redundant or are going through a relationship break-up. And yet,

change can also be the most exhilarating and powerful situation imaginable.

The thrill of the new perspective. You can almost literally see people and your everyday life in a completely new and invigorating way.

Think about moving house or even moving to a new country, one of the most stress-inducing activities in contemporary society. I accept that many people have an aversion to moving, however, a conversation with a friend made me see things differently as she absolutely loves moving and I was curious to know why.

She was telling me how when she was growing up, she would move the furniture around her room, even though with only a tiny room, she could only move her bed to no more than 3 positions without blocking herself in.

She said that she loved waking up with a different view of the world as it always emotionally and physically energised her.

As she has got older, she now moves house almost every other year. The practicalities have changed and yet, she still loves the ‘buzz’ of moving and she is more than aware of the irony that the only constant in her life is the element of change, yet she would have it no other way.

Perhaps a more cynical person would say that she is commitment-phobic or that change for change’s sake is not ‘healthy’. All I know is that she’s happy and has found something that works for her.

In time, she might find that this is no longer true, however I know she’ll deal with that if the time comes and if anything, embrace more change.

But why is change necessary? Is it necessary? Is the grass really always greener? Like most things, it depends on how you see it. Or perhaps how you choose to see it. There will always be something ‘better’ elsewhere if that’s how you choose to see the world, however, is that not true for us all? Is it just how we deal with it that differs?

In hindsight maybe my friend is simply always looking for a new perspective. Or maybe she’s got itchy feet and is a commitmentphobe? Either way, she’s happy with her life and isn’t that what everybody is looking for?

So, when did you last wake up really looking forward to your day?

When did you last turn your own metaphorical bed around?

Maybe you like it where it is and if so, you’re very lucky to love what you have but if you don’t, what’s stopping you?

If you love where you’re at in your life, keep doing what you are doing. But if you don’t, try doing something different, however ‘small’ it may be. If it doesn’t work, you can go back to where you were at before and maybe the grass wasn’t greener after all.

But what if it does work?

You then have the choice. You can either go down the newer, ‘greener’ road or you can choose to stay where you are after having re-evaluated your situation and what’s more, you may then get what you want. And greener grass or not, wouldn’t that be the most wonderful change of all?

Feature photo by Sylwia Pietruszka on Unsplash