3 Ways to Deal With the Inevitable Changes in Your Life

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Written by Jimmie Burroughs Email to a friend

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Change is inevitable, in life, whether or not we like it. The very nature of change is that it often happens dramatically and suddenly without warning. It can turn our entire world upside down. The good news is that life altering changes can be dealt with. Changes can be either positive or negative, but either way they require some coping. Learning how to cope with changes is necessary if life is to make any sense at all.  So rather than letting changes destroy your life, why not direct them to better your life. Here are 3 Ways to deal with the inevitable changes in your life that can turn a bad thing into an exciting new experience. These are the three things I used when my life was turned upside down because of change:

1.   Accept the changes when they come

2.   Enhance the changes with changes of your own

3.   Benefit yourself and others by the changes

Accept the changes when they come

Since changes are inevitable, and there is no turning back when they occur, the best alternative is to accept them. One of the changes we all must face, if we live long enough, is the death of friends and love ones. I know that isn’t something we want to think about, but it still happens. I’ve lost some of the closest and dearest people in the world to me, my grandparents, my parents, my wife, my brother and numerous friends and relatives.

None of those losses was easy, but the hardest was the loss of my wife of 44 years who died nearly 9 years ago on June 23, 2005. The memories of her death are still vivid in my mind. She had battled with cancer for almost a year; on her final day of life, my daughter and I were at her bedside, and my daughter said, “She has quit breathing.” In a second, she was gone forever, and it was just as if my life also had come to an end also.

I knew that I must accept it; there was no turning back; it was very clear that things would never be the same. Even though I would experience grief for months to come, I began to plan a new life for myself. I knew that I would be alone and without her, but I could not imagine that this great loss and change would usher in new life that would lead to some of the greatest experiences of my life.

Enhance the changes with changes of your own

Often those who lose a mate die also in a few months. They no longer think that they have a reason to live, so their life ends. It was different with me; I wanted to live, and I wanted to live better. I began to ponder what I could do to enhance this terrible change that had taken place in my life and actually to improve my life. I had no plans to retire from my work prior to the death of my wife, but now that was foremost in my thoughts. I decided to sell my business and retire. I also didn’t want to do as a lot of others I knew, who quit and spent their life fishing or watching passive TV programs and sleeping.

The question that came to mind was what could I do that would enhance my life? That was easy:  to see the places I’d heard about and read about, but hadn’t been able to go there because of work.

I made a long list of things that must be done before there could be freedom to do what I wanted. It took one year to accomplish the complete list which included paying off $50,000 worth of debts, purchasing a motor home and retiring from the business. I paid off all the outstanding bills; the few monthly bills that remained, like life insurance, car insurance etc., were set up to be automatically debited from my checking account. This was a newly found freedom that I had never experienced before in my entire adult life. It was a great feeling.

The next thought was, where would be the best places to go, and how could travel be used constructively?

Benefit yourself and others by the changes

How could freedom from the responsibilities of work and other obligations be used to benefit not only myself but others also?  For help on answering that question, I called my pastor and asked him how could a motor home be used for a ministry? He suggested joining “Campers on Mission,” a group of volunteers who went about volunteering their time to help others, like children homes that could not afford the needed maintenance etc. Since construction had been my business for several years, it was apparent that was something that I could do. The first year I traveled to Florida and worked as a volunteer for a period of several months. This was nice since it was during the winter months. This trip would lead to several more trips to Florida, which included working as a volunteer on a boy’s cattle ranch.

Another trip was to Arizona where I led a group of volunteers to build a church building for a small struggling church that was meeting in a double wide. Since then and over the past 6 years I have traveled in 37 states with my little Westee dog, McDuff. A lot of people and institutions have been helped through the efforts of other volunteers and myself.

Another thought that came to mind was how could spare time be used well rather than wasting it watching passive TV? That was about the time the analogue TV changed over to digital. Rather than making the changeover I quit watching TV and developed a website to share some of my experiences and knowledge with others. Since then over 600 articles have been posted, and over 150,000 people have expressed their appreciation for the information, and a number of people have informed me that they have received Jesus as their savior as a result of the articles. Writing now has become nearly a full time job, and I can do it from anywhere my travel takes me.

Well, I’ve certainly benefited from my travels and at the same time benefited others. I must confess that there are still lonely times, and never a day goes by that I don’t miss my lovely wife, but all in all the past several years have been packed with new and exciting experiences. I feel that life has a purpose; making a contribution that will help others a to have a better life is a positive way to fulfill that purpose..

Conclusion

Christians often say, “I don’t know how people make it through life without the Lord.” Critics say that Christians use their religion as a crutch to make it through life. As a matter of fact,  many are unable to make it through life at all, and so they take their own life or experience a miserable existence, and others use drugs and alcohol.  It seems much wiser to use a crutch to walk than not to be able to walk at all. However, God is not to be viewed only as a crutch, he is a loving father who loves his children and wants to help them through life by his presence. Jesus said, “Lo I am with you always, even until the end of the world.” I know that to be true; he has been my greatest source of strength through all the ups and downs of my life. He loves you also, and he wants to have a relationship with you if you will allow him to come into your life.

About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is a motivational speaker and author who has been involved in teaching Christian Personal Development for more than 30 years. There are hundreds of articles to help you on this website, (Website Contents ) in your personal growth.

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