“There is nothing permanent except change.” - Heraclitus
Change is never easy. It can be painful, frustrating and difficult, and not everyone is open to it. With change comes a lot of emotions. You can be happy, sad, and angry all at once. As humans, we tend to look at change as a bad thing, which isn’t always the case.
In reality, change happens every day whether we notice or not. During any type of change, big or small, it’s always good to have someone on your side who will help you get through it and help you think about the change in a positive way. That is a role our staff at Boys and Girls Homes works hard to fulfill as our youth and families work through our programs. We work closely with our youth to provide different perspectives as they share their experiences and concerns.
Having an open mind when trying to process any change also comes in handy. Recently our staff has had the opportunity to demonstrate a healthy, open-minded reaction to change as our agency experienced significant program changes and staff turnover. When staff leaves it can be a challenge because they are often your best supporters. It can be very difficult to understand it all and keep moving forward at first, but taking everything day-by-day is the best thing you can do. We are learning new information and how to successfully run a new program within the agency. Being willing to learn something new in order to grow as a person and organization is essential.
Coming into our continuum of care is a big change for the youth and families we serve. While working with us, we introduce changes like structured schedules and new ways to interact with others, especially in family communication. To help make these changes a little less scary and address them head on, we provide a series of questions for them to ask themselves. Is this change going to benefit me? Is this change going to help me become a better person or is this change going to stop me from being the person I know I can be? Is this change going to help me fulfill my purpose or is it going to hinder my purpose?
No matter your answers to these questions, change is going to happen. It’s up to you to decide how you experience the change, either embracing it for what it is, or sitting back and complaining about it. Change happens every day and every minute, so embrace it and make it positive.
Amber Payne is a Cottage Life Social Worker at Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina.
