22 Inspirational Quotes On Change & Coping With Change

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Change happens whether we want it to or not. Coping with change isn’t always easy as it shakes our equilibrium, drags us from comfort zones and can leave us feeling unprepared in the face of the unknown. We could be talking about small changes in your day to day, or the bigger changes and uncertainties in life, from moving home, social unrest and unaffordable price hikes, to job loss, bereavement or chronic illness changing the landscape of your world. These quotes on change are to highlight the nature of change and our responses to it.

The Nature Of Change

The majority of things in life, and the majority of our experiences, can and will change. It’s one of the few guarantees in our existence. Change may come with time, from the actions of others and forces out of your control, or as the result of your own efforts that you have a degree of control over. 

When things get tough and we feel bitterly disheartened with our situation, it’s good to remember how things can change and to also look at the ways in which you might be able to affect some change yourself. Rather than focusing on what you can’t do, focus on what you can do, even if you have to think outside the box a little.

Unfortunately things don’t always change for the “better”, whatever we have in mind for what that means. Changes can surprise us, take us off guard and leave us feeling totally unprepared. 

Change can take us out of an intolerable situation and into a new dawn of hope, or change can shatter our lives in the blink of an eye. There are different degrees of severity, duration and disturbance from change.

Change may be tiny in your day to day: a TV program airing later than was scheduled or even running late because of traffic. It could be moderate: needing to change to diet for health reasons, or changing your style as you work on personal development. Then there’s more dramatic, out of the blue change: your lifestyle changing because of a pandemic, losing your job, a bereavement, or an accident forever changing your life.

We all experience changes whatever form it takes, on an ongoing basis. It’s part of being human. So why is it so often hard to stomach the mere thought of sometimes? 

It’s true that some people might feel more confident riding the tide of change and “going with the flow” than others. But the challenges posed by change shouldn’t be underestimated. It can be incredibly difficult to get your head around, to walk into the midst of the unknown, to feel as though there’s no solid ground beneath your feet. 

You’re not alone if you feel change is unnerving and if an unknown future fills you with dread. 

Here are just 22 quotes that can provide a different perspective on change and how we deal with it in life. 

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22 Quotes On Change 

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The Guarantee Of Change

“There is nothing so stable as change”

– Bob Dylan

“Prepare to be unprepared because that is the nature of change and the unknown. That is being human”

– Caz / InvisiblyMe

“The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance”

– Nathaniel Branden

Focus On What You Can Do 

“Let go of what you can’t control, but empower yourself to affect change by focussing on the things you can do”

– Caz / InvisiblyMe

“I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest”

– Venus Williams

“Instead of focusing on that circumstances that you cannot change – focus strongly and powerfully on the circumstances that you can”

– Joy Page

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new”

– Socrates

“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Being Mindfully Present 

“Every day the clock resets. Your wins don’t matter. Your failures don’t matter. Don’t stress on what was, fight for what could be“

– Sean Higgins

Adjust Your Approach & Attitude

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination”

– Jimmy Dean

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude”

– Maya Angelou

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

– Dr. Wayne Dyer

The Impermanence In Life 

“This too shall pass” (I prefer the alternative version : “This too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass”

– Unknown

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man”

– Heraclitus

Actively Affect Change

“Every day brings new choices”

– Martha Beck

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself”

– Andy Warhol

“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the word”

– Stephen Hawking

Embrace Change & Uncertainty

“Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster”

– Elon Musk

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance”

– Alan Watts

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change”

– Carl Rogers

“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better”

– Georg C. Lichtenberg 

“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next”

– Gilda Radner

Do you struggle to cope with change, big or small? Do any of these quotes strike a chord with you, or do you have any quotes on change that you’d like to share?

Caz  ♥

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