While it can seem like we are basically living the same day over and over again, that’s actually a fallacy. You may be following the same routine, but all around you is change.

The clouds in the sky will never be exactly the same pattern again. The birds and animals will never be in the exact same place. The cars and people moving around in their day are in totally new perspectives and positions from one another. The people we see and talk too are different, and even the words that we say to the people who are most consistent in our lives will be different. This is truly a new day.

There is a basic life principle that says, “The Only Constant is Change.” We live totally immersed in change because it’s the normal process of life.

The problem comes when we refuse to accept change as a natural process, and instead try to control it.

You know you are trying to control change if it feels like you are being hit by a tidal wave. You may feel overwhelmed, worried, or fearful. You may feel like a victim of circumstances.

Embracing change feels like the exhilaration of riding that wave. Of being on top of it and moving and shifting with it until it runs its course. It is feeling empowered to make your own choices, and to know you have a choice even in the most difficult situations. Being faced with two options you don’t like still gives you the power to choose.

If you have already been slammed by the wave of change and are doing your best just to stay afloat, how likely is it that you are going to be able to shift immediately to riding it?

It’s better to grab hold of your board, catch your breath, and use the lessons that you learned about what you don’t want to help you figure out what you do want. You want to catch that wave!

While it may seem simple, a powerful way to help move you from underneath the wave to successfully riding it is to change your thoughts and language. Changing the words we use—and the thoughts behind them—can truly change our reality. Suddenly we can see that a new wave is coming in, instead of being so focused on surviving that we totally miss the signs.

Simple changes like shifting, “Have to,” to “Want to,” “Need to,” to “It’s Important to Me,” and “Can’t” to “I choose not to,” can make profound changes in how you adjust to change because you are shifting your focus from what you don’t want to what you do want.

Focusing on what you do want generates positive anabolic energy and keeps you centered and powerful. It builds you up and helps you believe in yourself.

Focusing on what you don’t want generates negative catabolic energy that is disempowering and tears you down. It keeps you stuck under those pounding waves.

What can you do to begin changing your language? How can you remind yourself to focus on what you do want versus what you have to do? Pay attention to how you feel as a result.

Begin doing that consistently and you’ll be riding those waves of change before you know it.

Together we can do it!

Photo by phil1950 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net