Dealing with change requires adaptation to something new which has already taken place. Dealing with change produces stress, regardless if you are in favor of the change or if you are not.
Known fact (if you believe in Science): Stress is unhealthy, to say the least.
For instance, let’s look at the recent emergence of LGBT acceptance in our society: On the one hand, LGBT political activists have worked diligently over the past 25 years or more to create changes in our society. It required a vision, a plan, and consistent dedicated effort by many folks to first change attitudes and then to change the law. Now, while LGBT activists have succeeded, tens of millions of folks who do not share their same liberal attitudes toward LGBT issues are, nonetheless having to learn to adapt to these changes.
Traditional, conventional heterosexual attitudes which do not embrace these liberalized LGBT tenets have been in the collective psyche for hundreds or thousands of years. Therefore, folks who are now being asked to accept practices like same sex marriage, shared gender bathrooms and the use of new pronouns to replace “his” and “hers” may require some time to deal with attitudes and feelings related to these cultural changes. They may feel helpless, fearful and angry because they, their children and others they love are being exposed to and forced to accept LGBT behaviors as the New Normal, whereas they have always believed these behaviors to be unacceptable and/or abnormal.
So, on the other hand, while our laws have changed, millions of we Americans are having difficulty transitioning into acceptance of this recent, emergence of LGBT values and behaviors into our culture at large. Many remain committed to setting back the clock by attempting to reverse laws to return to more conservative, restrictive times.
Those who remain upset about our new LGBT state of affairs therefore experience additional stress in their already stressful lives, which can lead to increased emotional pressure, agitation, anger expression, or addictive behaviors.
Even if the present outcome of expanded freedoms for LGBT individuals proves to be only temporary, those who are stressed over accepting today’s more liberal cultural values would benefit from learning to reduce their stress when confronted with our nation’s present day circumstances as they are.
While I personally have no problem with our gender related cultural changes, I do have a problem with labeling those who may have a problem adapting to these changes as being “homophobic”, as if they were suffering from a diagnosable disease. I would like to see more empathy and understanding from those who won the cultural gender battle toward those who lost the cultural gender battle, while they make their adjustment.
The same holds true for those who feel they’ve won the cultural political battle after winning the presidency, the house, the senate and, shortly, tipping the scales of the Supreme Court. As we seek common ground, our culture is vacillating from one position to another in these turbulent times. To recognize the “other” with differing opinions and values as “one of us” rather than as “the enemy” will assist us to achieve balance and equanimity in our society.
TAKE AWAY: – practice patience with those who hold differing points of view. Acknowledge your differences and let them know you understand and recognize the difficulty they are having accepting present circumstances. You might also let them know that you are also having difficulty accepting other aspects of recent cultural change regarding issues they may be in favor of.
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