How do you react to change?

That all depends on the situation. If it’s a good change that I like, I either let it be and go with the flow, or I express my excitement to the point that it’s annoying.

If it’s a negative change, I tend to be very upset. The period of time that I’m upset varies, depending on the severity of the change. Sometimes, however, I’m okay with negative change and just have to let it go.

I’ve found that if it’s a good change, there’s really nothing to deal with because I’m happy about it. If it’s a bad or difficult change, I always cope best by completely immersing myself in it; by forcing myself to deal with it, I don’t waste any time and therefore acclimate much sooner than I probably could otherwise.

Why do you list only two options? Like most things in life there is a whole continuum of possible responses. I think there are very few people who “just sit there and pout.”

A change is sort of like a physical nudge. If someone shoves you, your first impulse is to plant your feet and not move. I have found over the years that I have to moderate my first impulse about change. I have to let myself have time to accommodate the idea of the change, to fit it into my life, to think about it before I react.

While the force of change in our lives over the long-term brings growth and crafts who we are, it is important not to minimize the stressful nature of change. When one is going through it, it may not be pleasant or easy.

Absolutely everything changes, and I would even venture to say that there is nothing but change. The sooner we come to grips with that fact, the smoother our lives, and deaths, will go. There’s only one healthy way to respond to change: acceptance. Not necessarily acceptance of every state of affairs that results from those changes, but acceptance that, no matter how much we love or hate the way things are, they will change.

Knowing this allows me to uncouple my sense of inner peace from the turmoil of changing circumstances. When things are going great, I know that I can’t become emotionally invested in the hope that things will always be this way. When life turns dark, I know that light will follow. And finally, I know not to get to attached to this lump of flesh and all its aspirations.

After reading your question, I suddenly remembered a quote that I read years ago which said, “If you don’t create change, change will create you.” At some point in my life I felt as though I was powerless against change as if it was mopping the floor with me and that all I had to do was to submit. Feeling hopeless is far different from acceptance, and Harp is right, it is the latter that matters the most. After acceptance, we regain our strength and the will to go on. Whatever kind of change—good or bad—I see to it that keep on moving forward, with the hope that everything will eventually turn out for the best. After all, it is through change that I grow and feel so much alive.

I’m one of the people that enjoys change too much. I love to travel, to make new friends, my relationships last exceedingly short periods of time, and I tend to get bored of everything very quickly.

It’s sort of an OCD, but I quite regularly switch the sides of the bed that I’m sleeping on, and then occasionally turn around the pillows and duvet. There’s something about repetitiveness that annoys me, even in the smallest parts of what I do.

So can we all agree that acceptance is needed before one can react towards a change. In biology, one of the 7 characterics of life is response to stimuli. If we don’t react, does our life become meaningless. Transcendentalists of the mid-1800s believed that one should not fall into a rut, constantly doing the same actions everyday. Instead, change should be accepted as a tool for growth and maturity. They also beleieved that one could not “suck the marrow from life” and live it to the fulliest without experiencing newer and more exquist things.

We react to change for the better usually by taking it for granted while we react to change for the worse with some pain ,although over time we accept it and embrace it.Being concious of the change for the better enriches your life,not the mere change. Changes for the better e.g.new inventions,better technology,improvements in living etc are not usually felt ,but are merely recorded over time. As Aldous Huxley once said,we do not thank the invention of the motor cars for the comfort they afforded to us in place of the stage coach but curse it if the carburettor is choked.

I tend to respond in one of two ways: 1) rebel or feel uncomfortable for a while until I get used to the change and then I go with it. 2) go with it right away. For me, it depends on the situation and I supposed there’s always a little apprehension when I do something new. There’s an excitement but also a little fear involved; I like new and different and mutable and I am drawn to it. I’m drawn to the potential that change implies.

I usually react in this order:
1. Panic (I was not expecting it and I am afraid of what is going to happen)
2. Rebellion (I don’t want thing to change)
3. Reflection (Well, things have changed and apparently there’s nothing I can do for it, so let’s try to find some opportunities in that)
4. Adaption (Things have changed, and after all, is not that big deal I was fearing in point number 1.)
5. Challenge (Things have changed. I have adapted. I master what’s new and have learned from what I was doing in the past. Next?)

I take it with discretion to make sure I’m not conforming to something I don’t believe in.

I take it face on and whatever the outcome I deal.

I react to change like Adrian Monk..

Adrian Monk: There’s an old saying: “Don’t change anything… ever.”
Natalie Teeger: That’s an old saying?
Adrian Monk: I’ve been saying it for years.

source

It’s the little things that bug me, furniture being moved, sudden plans, my jeans shrinking in the wash, a new laundry soap and so on.

I fear change!

@dragonflyfaith: I move furniture 24/7. I think we probably have a flatmate compatibility of 0%. :)

@richardhenry I shared an office with my last boss and she moved our desks and everything at least once a week. We had an agreement, she could move things as often as she wanted but only if I was there to witness it. It doesn’t bother me so much if I see it happen just if I walk in and everything is different.

I used to work with a guy who was totally meticulous about his personal and work environments. At the time I did not realize it, but looking back he was probably OCD. To mess with his head, at night after he left, we used to move each of his desk items (stapler, pen set, nameplate [put up his own nameplate—just shows what kind of guy he was] a few millimeters. Then we would hide the next day and crack up watching him have to move everything back precisely before he could start work.

@Marina Yeah I’m not that bad! I just hate trying to find things the I know I left right there.

@Marina: ooh, I feel bad for him. My boyfriend is OCD too and takes Lexapro for it. It’s helped a bit in that he doesn’t get so upset while he’s moving things back.. lol. Plus, I’m very meticulous with my desk as well. Not that bad, but everything has its place and I’m constantly tidying up throughout the day.

@rh I would make the perfect flatmate (haha I said flatmate).

I love change: I move all the time, I switch jobs often, I move furniture, change clothes, change foods, etc. I’ve always been this way.

I agree with harp (again); all there is is change. Our minds and memories trick us into thinking that things stay the same. I must admit that I have only an aloof attachment to my desires, except of course to my wife; my world would crumble were anything to happen to her.

I’m a go with the flow kind of person. Whatever happens, happens – I’ll deal with it as I go. I think change is something to embrace rather than fear. How else do you experience new things if not for changes? I love change. Sometimes I wish things would last longer, but if it ends then so be it. I believe that something else great will come along.. and I’ll be looking forward to it.

To me, change is a challenge. Garage burned down? Let’s start building, make it a three-car this time. Transferred to a new area? Let’s house-hunt! Hair’s falling out? Break out the razor and mop’n glo. Inherited a half-million dollars? See ya. :^D

It is said that people of higher intelligence handle (adapt) to change better than those of lower intellect. I guess I am dumb because I am set in my ways and resist change. I just say I am lazy.

I react to change, differently than I react to paper money.

For some reason, a handful of quarters doesn’t excite me, as much as a handful of $100 bills does.

Just my personal opinion, you understand.

August 30, 2008, 9:28 PM EDT

I resist at first…then I adapt.

“How do you react to change- do you continue life as is or react accordingly, or do you just sit there and pout?”

Lets break down your statement this way;
“react accordingly”: implies some normative reaction which suggests the opposite:
“react un-accordingly”: which seems to include “continue life” or “pout”

Everyone reacts to the same stressor differently.
Our reactions to events of any kind are affected by how we, internally, perceive the change and what we learned from our parents as we witnessed their own reactions to change + the state of our mental health at the time.
An untreated, clinically depressed individual will react differently than they would if they had been undergoing treatment.

I react to change I initiate just fine: it’s the change I wanted.
I accept change that I have no ability to affect just fine (though my reaction to the change would vary as change has too many variables to generalize)
If a change is impending AND I can influence the change BECAUSE I perceive the change to have a negative affect on me, my family, my beliefs…I work to move the change in the direction I perceive to be in line with my beliefs.

I like change, especially when I pay for something and I get back EXACT change. Change is good, exact change is AWESOME!

Well. Thankfully.

Change, for me, results in withdrawal. Not from the world, but from feelings. What must change, will. And Im not going to rally against it. Ill pretend to be okay with it, until I really am.

You know, I can handle change reasonably well. I change my clothes nearly every day. I’ve made six coast-to-coast moves in the USA in the past thirty years (and a lot more in-between). I’ve changed jobs multiple times, and changed careers at least three times. I’ve been married twice, and I’m hoping for a third. Hell, I like to carry change in my pocket sometimes! Change doesn’t generally upset me.

But the changes made to Answerbag over the past day or two have driven me here. Some changes “for the sake of change itself” I do not abide.

I refuse to give up,I refuse to give in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpjCrMZYzy4