Change

This will relate to diet.  I promise, so please bear with me.

Change is hard.  It is difficult.  In my life, I have encountered two TYPES OF CHANGE and within those, there exist TWO SUBTYPES.  From those I have discovered, anecdotally, that I have to understand what changes I am encountering and then, from that, plan my way forward.

Types of Change

So how does one categorize change into two main types? Change happens as basically as the sun rising and setting. That is change.  But I simplify the categorization of change as two basic types.

Received Change

This is the one that we probably initially fear.  These are the types we usually do not see coming so they can carry a negative connotation.  Some examples of this can be changes to your health or perhaps the loss of a job. It can be a house fire or even getting T-boned by another car in an intersection.  

All that made sense, but it can also be winning the lottery or meeting the person of your dreams at a house party.  

Projected Change

This is the change we make.  We know its coming and have, to some degree, prepared for it.  The outcome is not guaranteed to be positive but its more likely to be perceived as positive. This change can stop at your skin, in the sense that you change how you feel about yourself or it can be further in the sense that you buy a new car or paint your living room.  

Subtypes of Change

The subtypes can apply to either type but they tend to align in a predictable manner - mainly because it's habitual.  The description of my types of change uses these to help you relate to them. Its feeling and feeling is merely emotional perception.  Anything can feel good or bad depending on context or relation to other changes.  

Feels Good Change

Often we feel good about the changes we make. Not always, but emotionally we are more likely to perceive them as a positive thing.  Projected change usually feels good to us. We needed it.  We made it.  We feel empowered. Sometimes hesitance for the unknowns that follow make us feel apprehensive and that is confused as feeling bad - but that is a different emotion that blurs the focus.

Feels Bad Change

Obviously, received changes are mostly unplanned and unexpected so we have to make rapid adjustments to find some stability.  When this happens, it can be justified to feel bad - especially when the change is tragic.  But often its the sheer numerosity and various levels of intensity of unknowns that drive levels of apprehension and then fear.  

Why Understand Change?

I have found, that for me when I have my hands on the stick and throttle, I am more likely to feel better about them.  As advanced primates, we still respond to positive reinforcement and our feelings, or perceptions can be the positive reinforcement we need to continue.

When you change how you eat you are making a substantial change.  You are changing not only how you operate during the day, but how you interact with family or coworkers.  As we encounter received changes (questions, attitudes, habit adjustments like not going for takeout) to our projected change, we may be placing more relevance to the negative perception of the most recent change.  

This cycle can muddle our feelings and interfere in the positive reinforcement cycle.

Change and Diet

How, what, and when we eat is the most simple projected change we can make.  We will encounter received change during that process and that can impact our success trajectory in the sense that it can make it a shallow climb, or even in the worst cases, completely derail us.

Make your changes and embrace the power of your control. Be aware of the pitfalls and navigate them because as we learn to anticipate the changes that follow their impact feel less important and we can continue forward.  The sun rises and sets but we don't control it. We do, however, anticipate it and adjust our days around it.  

Change is good.