Change is difficult for all creatures. I’m reminded of that every time I put my dogs in the car. Swapping what we know for something unfamiliar provokes all kinds of anxiety, compounded by the grief of letting go of people, places, and things we’ve come to love and enjoy. Even when we know the change is for the better and the decision is deliberate, there is still fear of moving forward into the unknown.

Since this blog is about embracing change, I compiled some quotes that remind us that a blank page, although unsettling, is chock full of possibility and potential. It is a canvas on which we get to start over and apply whatever colors we want.

The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. –Socrates

And one day she discovered that she was fierce and strong. And full of fire. And that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fear. –Mark Anthony

Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. –Robin Sharma

All great changes are preceded by chaos. –Deepak Chopra

You will never be 100 percent ready to change. Don’t wait for the perfect time. It will never come. Start today. –Unknown

Stop looking for happiness in the same place you lost it. –Anonymous

Put blinders on to those things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your head. –Meryl Streep

The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. –Alan W. Watts

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. –Joseph Campbell

A secret to happiness is letting every situation be what it is, instead of what you think it should be. –Mandy Hale

If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies. –Wendy Mass

It’s okay to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave. –Unknown

The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do. –Unknown

Whatever makes you uncomfortable is your biggest opportunity for growth. –Bryant McGill

Your life doesn’t get better by chance. It gets better by change. –Jim Rohn

Change is hard because we overestimate the value of what we have and underestimate the value of what we may gain by giving that up. — James Belasco and Ralph Stayer

Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome. –Unknown

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. –C.S. Lewis

Don’t be afraid to start over. It’s a new chance to build what you want. –Unknown

Sometimes in the waves of change we find our true direction. –Unknown

Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t. –Rikki Rogers

Photo Credit: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Therese Borchard
I am a writer and chaplain trying to live a simple life in Annapolis, Maryland.

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8 Responses
  1. Mary

    I always love to see an e-mail from you,Therese! I know there will most definitely be some sort of uplifting message!
    I needed these affirmations on change today more than anything else. Thank you for your inspiration !!

  2. Mary Noel

    Standing on the edge of a ‘new-way’ of thinking and living, myself. It feels like I am getting ready to ‘jump’ into a brand new way and I find myself thinking of the first time I encouraged each of my young and toddling boys, as they stood on the edge of a swimming pool:—–“Go ahead, JUMP!!! I promise I will catch you!” Two of them stood, knees bent—–wanting so hard to give in and trust—–to jump! My youngest son——well, let’s say he needed no one to even stand inside the pool to jump. We each face the choice to trust to change some part of our lives and some of the changes will need a discernment, for sure. But, once the decision is made—–GO AHEAD and Just Jump—–commit to leaping into that pool where the water seems to offer a different type of belief in ourselves that we are certainly capable of making our way! Then, I have to add, with a warm smile—–my youngest son and the way he approached the water he stood beside. He jumped off the side of the pool with no one to catch him, and he, surely, sank! For whatever reason, even that jump couldn’t hinder his belief that he could swim and that he loved the water!!! Nope——-I turned around one day, as we sat beside the neighborhood community pool, and there he stood at the very last step of the high diving board (when they were still around) and beginning his running steps to ‘leap’ into the very deep well of the pool. Did he need some help—-ah, most definitely!!!! Thinking in conclusion—-we can be quick jumpers who find ourselves shocked, knowing that we needed a little more evaluation before our decision of a commitment. Secondly, we can make endless evaluations before deciding to ‘jump’—–devorcing our tendency to fear, in order to release and openly embrace a new path in life!

  3. Rose5

    “The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do.”
    This quote comes from Steve Jobs in an Apple’s 1997 Think Different campaign. The full text is as follows:

    “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. … You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. … They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

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