I recently spent a few days at the beach, trying to slow down the end of summer.

While enjoying the surf, it struck me that playing in the waves is a great metaphor for dealing with change. Much like change, a wave is a force you just can’t fight.

There are only three choices when it comes to dealing with a wave:

You can let it knock you down; you can find a way to survive it; or you can ride it and make it work for you.

Much like the surf coming on to shore, change is powerful and inevitable. It also can be incredibly stressful. No one really likes change, except perhaps a baby in wet diapers.

It’s up to us to decide how we are going to hand the change and the stress that comes our way. As motivational speaker Brian Tracy says, “We can either be masters of change or victims of change.”

Here are three ways to handle the waves of change:

Getting knocked down

You can’t successfully fight a wave; it will knock you down. In the face of change, many people say things such as “This just isn’t fair”; “This shouldn’t be happening”; or the dead-end question, “Why does this always happen to me?”

All these are symptomatic of the “dead-roach approach” to change. When roaches are dying, they roll over on their backs and kick their feet in the air. They assume a very powerless position, and whatever happens happens. The dead-roach approach is a sure-fire system for becoming a victim of change.

Surviving

Another way to approach a wave is to hold on for dear life and let it take you where it may, hoping to just survive.

While at first glance this might seem like a reasonable approach, it really isn’t. This approach teaches us to merely get by, to do the minimum necessary to make it.

In the long run, it’s simply a well-disguised system for a victim of change.

Riding and making it work

My experience with helping people deal with the changes in their lives has taught me that there is a better way, an optimal way, to deal with change. It involves two key elements:

making the very best of what comes your way

making it work for you.

This involves asking a very powerful question when confronted with change. This small but profound question is simply

“In how many ways can I make this work for me?”

This allows our brain to tap into our natural creativity and find ways to thrive in any situation.

Here’s an example. Hockey great Wayne Gretsky was asked in an interview what he thought it was that made him so successful. He humbly stated that there were many players who were better and more gifted as athletes. He explained his success in this way:

“Most guys go to where the puck is. All I do is go to where the puck is going.”

It’s been said that one of the best ways to predict the future is to create it yourself. A willingness to think innovatively allows you to create the circumstances that will allow you to successfully ride the wave of change.

The choice is yours. You can be a “dead roach,” a survivor, or a master of change. Which will it be for you?

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