Celebrity Column: Change happens, deal with it – Peace Hyde

Hello and welcome to a Piece of Peace, your weekly dose of motivation and inspiration. This week I would like to share with you on the topic, “Change Happens, Deal with it.”

One of the biggest things to deal with is change. We are all creatures of habit and sometimes a change in your personal circumstances can be one of the most unsettling things that can happen to us. Coping with change can also be stressful.

It comes with new considerations and responsibilities. One of my friends who relocated from the UK about a year ago decided he had had enough of Africa.

He came to Ghana with a business plan and $20,000. His plan was to build a portable restaurant using a converted bus. Things initially looked promising and he managed to efficiently invest his money in setting up the business.

Now all that was left was for the customers to come to him. 5 months went by and the customers never came. Coupled with this, my friend realized how complicated things were in Africa. The new change of lifestyle began to weigh heavily on him. He started to miss the creature comforts of the UK. Simple things like having constant electricity and regular water supply.

He relocated back 6 months ago. He sold the mobile restaurant to another friend who bought it for half the price. The new owner decided to reduce the offering of the restaurant, slash the prices and relocate to places where office workers congregated during lunch. He also added a new service, a mobile car wash whiles you eat.

Business has started to pick up so much that he has made enough money to invest in another van for his mobile food business. You see the difference between him and my friend was how they both dealt with a new change in their lives.

For my friend who gave up on his dream, the new business terrain with the wider challenges in the economy made the new change unbearable. In contrast, the other friend accepted the change and adapted his predecessor’s methods to ensure that he achieved the results he wanted.

Sometimes our inability to cope with change can let us miss out on some amazing opportunities in life. As much as we may not like change, it is the only constant thing in life. Nothing will ever remain the same forever and it is important to live your life planning for how you are going to deal with the next big change in your life.

Try not to allow the fear of the unknown to control you. One of the biggest issues people have with change is the fact that, there is an element of the unknown and as a result if we cannot understand in a lot of detail how that change will affect us we become apprehensive. It is important to embrace whatever changes God has in store for you.

For some of us it can be as simple as changing your diet or choosing to be a better father. No matter what changes you need to make, learn to commit to those decisions and work diligently towards your goals without giving in to the pressures around you. And no matter what you do, always remember, be yourself because everyone else is taken.

Much love,

Peace Hyde.