Change isn’t always a bad thing…. Recently I attended the farewell of the founder of an organisation. It was a bittersweet event, reflecting on all that has been achieved under his leadership while being very aware that he won’t be around next year. It is scary to consider a future without him at the helm, and a few people felt anxious about what comes next. However, I decided to choose to be excited, to look forward to the possibilities we hadn’t even imagined yet. Sometimes change needs to be forced on you to allow for greater opportunities that you weren’t even looking for.

As a sector, we’re ALL about change – improving people’s lives is our mission and that requires change, for them, for us, for society, and for policies. Donors look for a ‘learning organization’ which means being in a constant state of change – review, learn, improve – it’s all about change. We’re okay with changing processes that aren’t effective or pivoting something that isn’t impactful, but it’s much harder to let go when things are working well. We are loath to risk the ‘okay’ and embrace the ‘so much better’.

There is a philosophy about the fact that there is a future version of you that will never exist because you chose a different path. That’s quite a scary thought, especially for someone like me who likes to keep my options open! But it does highlight the importance of holding space to grieve during times of change – to grieve what was that will no longer be, but also to grieve what could have been but will never be.

Once you’ve celebrated what was and grieved what could have been, then you need to let it go and step forward confidently into the opportunities that present themselves. The lesson to learn is to hold your dreams, your future, and your life loosely, so that you can let go with certainty and grab onto what’s best for you right now.