In October we had a very interesting topic to discuss but one that required quite a lot of sensitivity. It was ‘How do we cope with life’s changes.’
One of the most obvious changes was house moves. Seemingly a person on average changes house 8 times during their life. Most of us fell somewhere in the average category but three due to their parent’s or husband’s job had moved many times; 14 homes in 4 countries for one and 17 for another. At least 5 of us had to adjust to living in other countries with different cultures.
The other big change was divorce which brought about financial changes and relation/ friendship changes. All affected had adjusted well but it took time.
Death, whether of parents, children or friends had affected a lot of us and the coping strategies varied from going on long walks, thinking more about children than oneself, and having a good circle of friends that accepted your ups and downs.
Another person talked about helping people in hospital adjust to their new circumstances.
Adjustment to any change was not easy and took time but you had to look after yourself as well as those around who had been affected, a balanced approach with both -ve and +ve emotions.
We often wonder if we are a glass full or glass empty sort of person but there was a lovely expression from a woman called Christina D’Anarty…… a glass is always refillable. As the Dalai Lama said ,we are only here for a short time and we must make the most of it.