Change as a Circle

This figure identifies four common experiences in the circular journey of change. Each of these experiences is very different, wrapped up with the other, and part of the circle of change. Sometimes we feel as if desired change is happening, as if there is progress. At other times we feel as if we have reached an impasse. Then there are times when the change processes seem to be going backwards. Then there are times when we feel as though we are living through a complete breakdown.

All these experiences, though not always in the same chronological order, are normal parts of the change circle. Understanding change as circular helps us to know and anticipate this. The circle recognizes that no one point in time determines the broader pattern. Rather, change encompasses different sets of patterns and directions as part of the whole.