{"id":466,"date":"2009-03-10T21:03:40","date_gmt":"2009-03-10T21:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/how-we-were-meant-to-respond-in-a-changing-world\/"},"modified":"2009-03-10T21:03:40","modified_gmt":"2009-03-10T21:03:40","slug":"how-we-were-meant-to-respond-in-a-changing-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/how-we-were-meant-to-respond-in-a-changing-world\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Were Meant To Respond In A Changing World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><\/span> It&#39;s obvious that the world has changed.&#0160; Some say for the better, some say for the worse.&#0160; I think the truth is found somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of your opinion, I want to address the human response we were designed to have in the midst of change-especially the crushing variety.<\/p>\n<p>When my father passed away some weeks ago, I entered into a place of deep pain.&#0160; To say he left a void would be an understatement.&#0160; But what is striking is the advice a friend and adviser gave me.&#0160; He told me to expect, potentially, a two-year journey through grieving.&#0160; I immediately thought: &quot;I don&#39;t have two years to give.&quot;&#0160; My mind, body and soul said: &quot;yes you do.&quot;&#0160; You see the dichotomy between my &quot;poser&quot; self and the real Eric Pennington?<\/p>\n<p>I am no longer able to deny the real Eric Pennington, so I am preparing for whatever may come.&#0160; This hasn&#39;t set well with some because of their need for me to be ok.&#0160; I understand this and I am learning to navigate these waters with grace.&#0160; It hurts.<\/p>\n<p>So what do you do when the changes (career, love, death, other life events) come?&#0160; Do you resort to old tricks?&#0160; Do you convince yourself that you just haven&#39;t found the right marketing (yes, we apply marketing to our personal lives)?<\/p>\n<p>Here are some observations that I have found appropriate in moving through a changing world:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some things are meant to end.&#0160; Letting go not only sets a pace for coping, but it allows the new to enter.&#0160; I don&#39;t miss corporate America because I found my life when I lost that way of existing.&#0160; The pain of that was excruciating and liberating all at the same time.<\/li>\n<li>Our lives are a story played in the midst of a backdrop called eternity.&#0160; A heaven-created story on display for all to see.&#0160; Keep in-mind here that no great movie or book is predictable.&#0160; So if you have a great life, it will look different than you imagined-better I might add.<\/li>\n<li>We must come to terms with our fears.&#0160; Yours could be different than mine, but we were designed to confront them.&#0160; Not doing this will leave you crippled and half-alive.&#0160; Don&#39;t by into the dogma of &quot;I&#39;m ok, your ok.&quot;&#0160; Assigning blame to a circumstance or another person is a recipe for regret.<\/li>\n<li>Believing in a vision and it&#39;s eventual matching up with life is essential.&#0160; For example, I have a vision of a day when the thought of my father will not illicit heartbreak.&#0160; Life does not meet up to that now, but it will.&#0160; Use this in any change path and you will inject a hope of great depth.<\/li>\n<li>Knowing yourself through a deliberate inventory of your tendencies will make sense of your journey.&#0160; I haven&#39;t always done this well.&#0160; I&#39;ve spent days asking why I have recurring challenges of a certain variety.&#0160; I have discovered that these challenges were my tendencies.&#0160; For example, virtually all my life I have been underestimated.&#0160; Many doubters, many scoffers and critics alike would bring resistance.&#0160; When I recognized that underestimation was a tremendous tool, I experience much success and breakthrough.&#0160; Know your tendencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#39;s obvious that the world has changed.&#0160; Some say for the better, some say for the worse.&#0160; I think the truth is found somewhere in the middle. Regardless of your opinion, I want to address the human response we were designed to have in the midst of change-especially the crushing variety. When my father passed&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,123,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coaching","category-leadership-development","category-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}