Need for exploration and change.

There are those who experience this need repeatedly and those who, on the contrary, try to avoid change by all possible means.

The changes generate certain adrenaline, they impact us emotionally because they transform the reality conceived up to now. At the extremes, it can produce great satisfaction or generate overwhelming anxiety.

The exploration is evident from a very early age. The exploratory phase par excellence is that of the toddler, starting at one and a half or two years of age. At this stage, boys and girls explore, seek to explore space, and conquer new terrain. But even before they have the ability to move through space, they explore from a very young age. They know the world through the senses and, especially in the oral phase, through the mouth.

We can then think that exploration is present from our first moments of life. Health has a direct relationship with the exploratory and playful capacity in childhood. What happens as we grow is that some of that eagerness to explore decreases and, at the same time, due to social norms, it is restricted and, in many cases, censored.

The arrival to adolescence and later to adult life implies in many cases that routine, duty, and fulfillment completely extinguish the need for exploration and condition the possibility of change. In subjects fully adapted to their social and work life, with a marked need for structures and a certain inflexibility, change can even represent a great threat.

On the contrary, there are certain individuals who tend to need to explore and change their scope and links with some regularity. The exploration has managed to continue after the rules and demands that imply growing. The experience can be very rich in these cases since stability and consolidation can be alternated with periods and exploratory needs to which they are given rise.

In some cases, however, this need for change and exploration can become constant and represent a defensive position. Exploring new terrain, changing places, ties, professions, when excessive, can imply a fear of being trapped in certain places. This can lead to the constant search for change, even at times when holding certain spaces may be healthy for the person.

There are those who report feeling suffocation or a feeling of confinement when they find themselves in the same place, job, routine, for a certain period of time. This can lead them to frequently change jobs and places of residence, for example. Many people with these characteristics often travel the world for many years, experiencing difficulty settling down.

Exploration is a characteristic that implies health and that we bring from very early stages of development. Change is something inherent in life. It is present in the cycles of nature, and as individuals, we must be able to go through them. It is important to allow ourselves to explore, both the world and ourselves, and accept that change is necessary to evolve. However, it is also important to be able to position ourselves receptively, being able to settle down or stop when necessary. Both positions are valuable.

Recognizing how we experience changes and to what extent and with what intensity we explore and enter unknown terrain, is that we can form an idea of ​​what positions we assume more frequently, raising awareness and having more tools when making decisions.

 

 

Thank You