This time of year, all kinds of animals in nature are on the move, the leaves are swirling around, winter is bearing down upon us, and it’s hard to miss the fact that everything is changing… everything that is except for those parts of us that resist life’s natural changes and get fixated in self-punishing states.

Whenever you begin to feel “stuck” in some negativity, remember that real self-change begins with seeing that Real Life is change itself. This means there is no condition that can hold you captive without your unconscious cooperation. Withdraw it! Wake up! Walk out of yourself by changing how you see what you call your life. Realize that while the contents of your life may come and go, turn dark, or suddenly seem delightful — regardless — these things will pass.

Learn to look at any moment with the quiet understanding that, in reality, nothing in life is fixed. Knowing this to be true is power over what disturbs you. Resting in the awareness of this truth while working to stand upon its higher ground, you come upon the life within you whose nature is the unchanging witness of these movements. This self dwells outside of change, even as all that changes moves through it.