7 Tips to Survive the Call To Change

I’ve been feeling very restless lately. Downright uncomfortable really. It’s like there’s a knot in my stomach, and a kind of dread that something is coming. 

Being busy these last few weeks has helped me ignore this feeling, for the most part. But today it pretty much took control. My teeth actually hurt.

I think it’s a call to change.

I need to make some changes in my life. And change is not always easy.

“How do you know that it’s a call to change?” you might be asking.

Easy. The restless feeling. And the feeling of not being satisfied. Wanting something more – and I’m not talking about physical things. Also, I was reading an old Feng Shui article by Vicky White called 7 Tips for Navigating Stormy Waters and she described exactly what I’m feeling.

In Feng Shui speak, it’s known as a call to journey, which often comes at a turning point in your life. You’re restless for change and movement, the pull of your higher self wanting more and nudging you to take the next step. The call to journey is like being given notice that change is a’comin!

Here are some of the signs:

• Discomfort in familiar environments (whether they’re physical or not)
• Dissatisfaction with people and things
• Feelings of loneliness or isolation
• Driving desire to discover your purpose
• Feeling something is missing
• Needing time alone or more contact with nature
• Boredom with things that used to give you pleasure
• Unexplainable illness
• Driving desire to declutter
• Feeling like your life has changed somehow and you can’t go back to how it used to be

All these are signals that change, expansion and growth are on the way. But more importantly, you have prompted it to happen by asking for it, somewhere or somehow.

Me? I have no idea what the change is going to be exactly, and I sure don’t remember asking for it. But I do know I’m going to need some serious help to get me through feeling completely disconnected and discombobulated! If you have seen any of the above signs lately, you are going to need help, too.

So, here are some survival skills to help navigate the stormy waters of change:

1. DON’T try to ignore the message. Resisting is futile. Instead, be curious about the change that is being called forth in you. That is the only way to reconnect with yourself. You are being called on to become realigned with your true self.

2. Accept that it’s a good thing to feel restless and uncomfortable. Be aware that you are feeling this way because something bigger is on the way.

3. Trust this place on your journey. Be open to the possibility that you are out of alignment. If you are doing things or acting in ways that are not congruent with who you really are, then you have become out of alignment. This happens because we are constantly changing and expanding as conscious beings, and it takes time for our actions to catch up with these changes.

4. Shift the energy in your environment. The energy in your home or office can keep you in a holding pattern. You have to make room for change, and one of the basic principles of Feng Shui is that to make changes you need to move things around. So move things around!

5. Give yourself lots of space. Space to be, to think, to read or nap or just watch the world go by. Write in a journal if that’s what you like to do. But be on the lookout for signals, signs or messages. They will appear when you stop resisting your discomfort.

6. Ask for feedback. A trusted friend or coach will tell you how they see you right now, how you appear to them. But you have to allow them to be honest, and be prepared not to like what you hear. Sometimes it takes an outside observer to give us the kick in the butt we need to line up our behaviors with how we want to be.

7. Declutter. This is another basic principle of Feng Shui. By letting go of things that no longer support your intentions or inspire you, you make room for the winds of fortune to blow in and around your life. Clutter bogs you down and makes you feel frustrated, lethargic and hopeless. Decluttering will make space for clarity and lightness.

I am starting to feel better already! I actually cleared out one of the drawers in my bedroom recently, so that’s a start. And the knot in my stomach seems more bearable now that I know what it is: I’ve heard the call to journey. I’m open to expansion and change. My higher self knows more about it than I do, so I might as well listen to her.