People fear change. Okay, nothing new or newsworthy there. But why do we fear change?
There is so much debate about national healthcare these days. Or maybe not enough debate, depending on who you ask. There's the camp that's afraid of the status quo, and the camp that's afraid of change. Maybe an oversimplification, but bear with me.
I don't think I need to argue too much that something has to change. Clearly the status quo isn't working. But what about all the fear of change?
The insurance companies are afraid their going to lose their monopoly-driven huge profits. Okay, that one's probably valid. I hope it is.
Some people are afraid they'll end up losing their current coverage. I can see that market forces might take some of those plans off the market. My hunch is that the ones that go away are the ones that don't actually work that well anyway.
Some survey has been quoted claiming something like 90% of people are happy with their current plans. I don't believe that. Now, if 90% of people said their current plan was "better than no plan at all"...that I'd accept. If I told you you could have the same benefits at half the cost, would you keep your current plan?
The more I start thinking about the fear of change I wonder, what is it we're really afraid of?
I think the fear of change thing is a little backward from what people probably think at first. Sure, there is always going to be some uncertainty about what's coming. But I don't think that's "it."
Any time you exchange something for something newer, you might get something newer or better, but you probably have to get rid of the old. And we build attachments to things. I have a basement and a garage that testifies to that. We don't let go of things easily. So changing jobs, for example, becomes scary. Not because we don't know what to expect of the new job, but rather because we're used to the old one, and changing jobs means walking away from the old, familiar one. Even if it sucks, it's familiar, and it means letting it go. We're attached.
So, you get sick. You have insurance, and the doctor helps you get better. Not that he spends enough time to make sure everything is taken care of. Not that he follows up afterwards to see if the treatment worked. Not that he remembers a month later that you were sick (not without checking your chart first, anyway). But, the end result was you got better. Good thing you had insurance, you tell yourself. Now your brain is a sneaky little thing built to survive. It's got some outdated habits for that. Your brain decides you got better because you had insurance. If you lose your insurance, you'll get sick and die. Can't let that happen! So you think about changing insurance plans. Now your brain jumps in. "Hey, you can't do that. If you lose your current insurance plan you'll get sick and die." Since your brain controls other stuff, it triggers some chemicals. (It'll do whatever it takes to win, so chemical warfare certainly isn't out of the question.) You feel fear. Your heart races. You decide to keep your coverage as it is, and the fear subsides. You've survived. Think about changing again and your brain will remind you what happened last time. You don't want to die, after all, right?
Your brain doesn't get that the new plan will be better. Trading a car, switching houses, throwing out that old comfortable sweater that doesn't fit anymore... they're all hard because their about letting go of something we're attached to.
Basically, everything in our lives either raises our energy and adds to our life...or weighs us down. Not just the things we own. Not just the boxes of knicknacks we never unpack. Ideas. Beliefs. Habits. Jobs. Even insurance plans.
A new shiny car can give us enjoyment on a long commute. But sometimes it's just a stressor. You have to insure it. You have to take care of it. The more attached you get to it the more you find yourself fearing hailstorms, and the dents and dings of parking lots. If you're someone who lives in a crowded downtown area, dents and scratches and such might be a fact of life. If you spend more time worrying about those things than enjoying the car then it isn't an uplifting ride anymore, is it? Suddenly, letting go of the expensive car (and its payments) and having a simpler car you don't have to stress about might make sense. If you can get past the attachment.
How about fear of job interviews? Is that something that adds anything positive to my life? No. It's an obstacle. One I should get rid of.
Do your religious beliefs help you, or stress you out and hold you down? Your habits? Video game time--does it enhance your life, or is it just escapism? For some Facebook is a boon, for others it's not. Everything in your life can be evaluated in that simple way. Does it add to your energy, or lower it? Every physical, mental, or emotional possession. Every friendship.
You can't move forward much if you're dragging along a lot of deadweight and anchors. Cast off the ones that hold you back! What are you getting out of a fear of dancing, for example? What benefits come from not pursuing a new career path? Maybe there are some. Maybe not. But you don't know until you start looking. Dig deep. Introspect a little. It might be scary at first. Your brain might resist. "Oh, we can't possibly let go of that!" You might find freedom and peace. What could be so bad about that?
Posted by fictionman at August 13, 2009 10:31 AM | TrackBack (0)