My mother taught me how to remember which way to move the clocks at Daylight Savings Time with the phrase “Spring ahead; fall back.”
I look forward to springtime.
I do not look forward to losing an hour’s sleep when all my clocks, watches and electrical devices “spring ahead.” But I’ve realized that the way we adapt to Daylight Savings Time parallels the way we adapt to all change.ch
To make a change, we first need awareness, like when we realize it’s time to spring ahead.
When we recognize our need for change, we can take ownership of our problems.
In this case, I go about the house resetting any clock that won’t spring ahead automatically, from the watch on my wrist to the clock on the microwave.
I reset those clocks because once we become aware and take ownership, we require external help to make change.
I don’t usually need an alarm clock, but when Daylight Savings Time arrives, I do. I could insist that I don’t need to set that alarm — I wake up on time every other week of the year — but it takes about a week to adjust my morning routine to the new time. During that week, the alarm clock keeps me from sleeping in, and once it goes off, I pour myself an extra cup of coffee.
This extra cup of coffee helps me through the third stage of any change: the need to mourn my loss.
Any change involves loss, and every loss must be grieved.
I am grieving the loss of that hour of sleep this week, but another cup of coffee gives me the extra energy I need to effectively spring ahead into Daylight Savings Time.
I have discovered that while everyone wants progress, no one really wants to change, and resistance to change is the barrier that keeps us from making effective change.
What has kept you from changing before now?