Whether it’s watching your firstborn walk into the kindergarten classroom for the first time, relocating to another city for work or learning how to walk again after a bad injury, many things we go through in life require us to adapt to change.

Many of us struggle with change and are often resistant to it, either consciously or subconsciously; but change is a necessary part of life. It is essential for growing and improving as you progress through your life, and those who fear or avoid change often end up stunting their own progress or even feeling “stuck” in a life they don’t love.

Without change, there would be no growth, development, creativity or innovation in our lives; it is only when we embrace change that we open ourselves up to all of these wonderful things.

Embracing change with an optimistic mindset can lead to many benefits, both health-related and for life in general. These benefits include enhanced adaptability, improved mental well-being, increased resilience and advanced personal growth.

Embracing change in a positive way also leads to reduced stress and lifelong learning. While change can initially bring about a sense of stress or anxiety, over time, those who embrace change with an open mind can experience reduced stress levels and improved emotional resilience.

Change pushes us out of our comfort zone and provides us with the opportunity to learn and develop new skills. If we allow it to, this can lead to higher levels of confidence and self-esteem. I say “if we allow it to” because when we push back against change, we do not always experience these benefits.

There are two types of change: change that we initiate and change that is imposed upon us. While both types of change can be uncomfortable, change that is imposed upon us tends to be a bit more uncomfortable because we did not choose for it to happen.

When we initiate a change in our life, such as starting a fitness journey or giving up a bad habit, we anticipate some degree of discomfort that will come with it. However, when a change happens unexpectedly in our life, we typically have little time to prepare for it, and that fact alone can make it a lot more uncomfortable or undesirable; it can make us resist the change a lot

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Many of us resist the change of improving our health and wellness out of fear — fear of criticism, fear of the unknown or fear of failure.

” more because we feel we did not have a choice in the matter.

But most of the time, even the unplanned, unexpected changes that are imposed on us end up helping us in some way. This may not be evident immediately, and we may have to “trust the process,” but when we believe that all things are working out for our greater good, that can help us to adapt to these unpredictable life changes in a better, more therapeutic way.

Facing life’s unplanned changes helps to reveal our inner strengths and encourages resilience by allowing us to navigate and overcome these changes or challenges.

Embracing change with a positive outlook has been linked with greater success rates and enhanced overall satisfaction with life. Over time, individuals who consistently adapt to and embrace change develop confidence in their ability to handle new situations, and this can help with preventing anxiety regarding change and new situations going forward.

All of this applies to your health and wellness as well. Change is an inevitable and absolutely necessary part of improving your health and wellness.

For instance, adding exercise into your routine is a huge lifestyle change, and it comes with its own host of discomfort: physical discomfort like experiencing fatigue or being sore after a workout, and mental discomfort such as fighting the battle when your old self tries to talk you out of going to the gym.

There can also be discomforts associated with changing your diet, waking up earlier or reducing your intake of alcohol or caffeine, for instance. Most of us can appreciate that all of these changes will lead to good things; but then why do “most” American adults choose to not make these changes? This brings us back to the whole “resisting change” discussion.

Why do we, as humans, often resist changes that we know will be good for us? I have talked to hundreds of people over my career, and this is a feeling shared by many.

Many of us resist the change of improving our health and wellness out of fear — fear of criticism, fear of the unknown or fear of failure. But the more you challenge yourself to embrace the discomforts (or fears) associated with creating change in your life, the better you will get at it and the easier it will be for you to adapt to changes in your life going forward.

If you feel as though this applies to you, remind yourself that the changes you initiate are typically less uncomfortable than the changes forced upon you. If you are able to change your health and wellness now, why wait until a change is forced upon you by developing an injury, illness or medical condition due to poor health?

You have the power to initiate and embrace the changes associated with improving your wellness; you just have to believe that you can do so and take the needed steps.

So now that we know that change is an inevitable and necessary part of life, and that embracing change has so many positive benefits, how will you apply that to your own life?

The next time you are faced with change, planned or unplanned, allow yourself to embrace it, go with the flow of life and reap all the benefits of doing so.