What comes to mind when you hear the word "change?"  Shiny pennies?  I am  the queen of "correct change" - I love being able to produce exactly 43 cents if called upon to do so.  It's a religion for me.

But what about the other kind of change - the kind that we're faced with on a daily basis?  Prices change, politics change, our jobs change, and our personal lives change with great regularity.  Often, change is presented to us like an elephant ready to give birth, bearing the same risks.  If you aren't willing to participate, you'd better get out of the way. 

In addition, our society has instilled something very peculiar in us: the idea that we need to know all the answers before we even start a new experience.  Consequently, if things are changed without our consent and we don't have all the answers, we feel we aren't sufficiently prepared and that's a bad thing. 

Let's face it, it takes courage to accept change, and even more courage to change ourselves.  But we are not without options (in truth, we are never without options!).  Allow me to share with you a couple of "pennies from heaven" to consider the next time you're faced with change.

Penny #1 - It takes babies 18 years to change enough to be considered adults.  At that point they can vote, smoke, go to war and get married all without mom's approval or signature.  Hmmm, maybe we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves if we're unable to change overnight. 

Penny # 2 - In Chinese, the symbol for change is made up of two characters: one meaning danger, the other meaning opportunity.  So perhaps instead of seeing change as a stop sign, we should actually look at it simply as an opportunity, a sign that we're about to move in a different direction.

Penny # 3 - When faced with a major change, rather than looking at the whole thing (which can be overwhelming), break it into small parts. Did you know you can even eat an elephant a bite at a time?  You can - it'd be like eating an elephant steak every day for 25 years.  But at the end, you'd have nothing left but teeth and tusks and toenails.  Facing change a bite at a time will give you the courage to see it through.

My life has undergone significant changes in the last 12 months.  These pennies continue to give me the courage face those changes.  I hope they'll help you make correct change in your life as well!