Have you ever noticed that once you start to make significant changes in your life, everything starts to shift and dance and CRASH around you, all at the same time? I’ve heard it many times, and lived through it myself.

Almost the minute I made the very frightening decision to jump with both feet into self employment, from my secure, stable and salaried job of 12 years, my life started to fall apart. A health condition that had been worsening over 6 years resulted in a surgery that laid me up, just when I entered the Land of No Work, No Pay; our one car family became a two car family due to my transition and a month later our original vehicle decided to blow it's engine during rush hour while I was driving it on a major Chicago route; my computer crashed and I lost everything (not great for a largely web-based business), our furnace died, leading to the purchase of a new furnace, a/c and hot water heater. Had I known any ONE of these things would be happening, I would NOT have left my job! As it was, self-employment terrified me. I was certain that a life of macaroni and cheese and 10/$1 ramen noodles was before me. Yet, despite the fears I knew I had NO other choice. This was what I was meant to do, so I leapt...and leapt right into every fear I had, and a few I had forgotten to consider (like having my health crisis).

I hear similar stories from my clients all the time. Making the commitment to pursue major life changes sometimes sends seismic waves through our lives. Understandably, we may be tempted to respond by fighting it, panicking, taking the instability as a sign that we should retreat. We say things like “I can’t deal with THAT now, I have to finish THIS first”. “Why did this have to happen NOW, just when I was focusing on this other stuff?” “Maybe this is a sign (that this is the wrong direction)!”

Common notions coming out of the world of self-help these days (Laws of Attraction and Power of Intention, for example) can fuel a belief for many that once one makes the commitment to a difficult course of action to change the direction of our lives, the Universe will just clear the path and let us sail safely to our chosen harbor because we want to reach our goals so very badly. Hey, we're good people, we're working hard, we have integrity, commitment and passion so things should work out, right? I'm open to abundance, so the channels should be open now, shouldn't they?

Not so fast, Buckaroo. Remember you are part of a whole network of relationships and roles. Instant life balance just doesn't happen. It CAN'T happen. Sometimes things have to fall apart first.

Picture your life like a mobile. You blow on one part to shift its position and the whole thing starts to turn. It’s a system in balance, but the balance is Dynamic. I hear people talking about wanting more balance in life even as they are in the middle of recreating themselves. “When everything is SET, I can move forward. Once I clean my desk, or read that last book, or get just one more certification, or get past the holidays, or finish this last project... I can work on this big transition stuff. Then, once that transition stuff is over, I'll just relax and enjoy this wonderful feeling of serenity.”

When it doesn’t happen that way, we can start to feel like we aren't "doing it right" or "aren't really ready yet" and start working HARDER to get that balance established. Ultimately we may get burned out and say, “you know, I’m basically happy,” and give up the whole concept that life can get any better for us or that we will ever REALLY be ready to do what we would love to do.

Try looking at balance from another point of view. When you are making significant changes in your life, everything else has to respond to that change because our lives are integrated parts of a whole. The changes may not always be what you expected, and, yes, some of them may not be changes you thought you wanted, but they will occur. In fact, the more significant your shift, the more subsequent changes you can expect. The trick is to not fear change but FLOW with it.

Recognize change as an affirmation that you are, indeed, doing significant work on your life.

Also recognize that you might need to get a support system around you to help you keep a sense of balance in what might be a VERY disorienting time in your life. You may find you need to set stronger, wider boundaries and maintain a strong commitment to self-care to keep yourself well during major transitions. You may have to ask for help that you didn’t need before (and get your Ego out of the way to let yourself do this!) You may find yourself challenging a lot of beliefs and judgments you hold about many things, yourself included!

Keep clear about where you are heading and why. Major change can be tough but consider this if you are tempted to sit back and let "The Fates" choose your path:

If you don't watch out where you are going, you'll end up where you are headed.

Laura Young, M.A.
http://www.wellspringcoaching.com/