We are often resistant to change, and we don’t realize that change itself is constant.

Even if you resist or avoid it, it will enter your life just the same.
When you initiate the change yourself, it’s pretty easy to adapt to it, since it’s a wanted one.

But are the unplanned and unexpected changes bad?
What if all changes were good by default?

I have been embracing change since a young age.
During my life I have lived in five countries and in over twenty-five apartments, changed five schools and about five different careers.

At first it is a bit difficult and annoying, but after a while you get used to the change so much that if it doesn’t come for a while, you end up moving the furniture at home in order to feel something changing.

Changes connected with moving from country to country impacted my personality.
Thanks to them I became more flexible and open-minded.
Now I understand cultural differences and appreciate diversity.

Each of the career shifts brought knowledge and new experiences.
As a result, apart from the professional experience I learned how to resolve conflicts with difficult colleagues and how to work with unbearable bosses.

Career related changes brought self-confidence.
All those changes led me to the realization of what I wanted to do with my life.

The biggest change in life occurred when I got married.
The change brought love, peace, and comfort into my life.
As a result, a new me was born—me being a wife, mother, and happy woman.

Finally, the big change I initiated by quitting a good job and embracing the passion of writing made me truly happy and satisfied.

In general, when looking back, I realize that all the good things in my life are the results of changes that occurred in the past.

People usually avoid changes and prefer to stay in their comfort zones, but I am true believer that once you get the courage and take the first step to change, your life will become much better.

Below are just few benefits of change:

1. Personal growth
   You grow and learn new things every time something changes. You discover new insights about different aspects of your life. You learn lessons even from changes that did not lead you to where you wanted to be.
2. Flexibility
   Frequent changes make you easily adapt to new situations, new environments, and new people.
   As a result you do not freak out when something unexpectedly shifts.
3. Improvements
   We all have things in our lives we’d like to improve—finances, job, partner, house, etc.
   All of us know that nothing will  improve by itself. We need to do things differently to make that happen.
   Without change, there’d be no improvements.
4. Life values
   From time to time changes make you re-evaluate your life and look at certain things from a different perspective.
   Depending on what the change is, it may also reinforce your life values.
5. The Snowball effect
   Often we give up because we cannot accomplish the difficult task of making a huge and immediate change.
   That is when small changes become extremely valuable.
   One shift at a time, small changes will eventually lead you to the desired big one.
6. Strength
   Not all changes lead you to pleasant periods of life.
   Unfortunately we do not live in fairy tale and sad things happen, too.
   Overcoming the tough period will make you stronger.
7. Progress
   Changes trigger progress. Things move forward and develop because of the them.
8. Opportunities
   One never knows what each change may bring.
   When you turn from your usual path there will be plenty of different opportunities waiting for you.
   Changes will bring new choices for happiness and fulfilment.
9. New beginnings
   Each change is a turning page.
   It is about closing one chapter and opening another one.
   Changes bring new beginnings and excitement to life.
10. Routine
    Remember the movie Stranger than Fiction?
    The main character Harold Crick does the same things in exactly same time for years.
    He leads a completely dull, extremely predictable, and uninteresting life.
    That is how your life would be without changes.

So next time you get the temptation to avoid or resist the change, aim instead to initiate the ones that will lead you to where you want be.
And remember—if there were no change, there would be no butterflies!

• By Ani Alexander.