Sunday, March 15, 2009

Change

I had a wonderful trip to the temple last night with my SIL Kelly. She is great to talk to and have girl time with. In the midst of some other conversation she told me that one of the first things they talked about in her first class in school (she's a ... family therapist?...what's your actual title, Kelly? Sorry I don't know.) was "What makes people change". She said (and feel free to clarify and/or correct here, Kelly) that when Point A becomes more painful than Point B, then you can successfully move from Point A to Point B. I've been thinking about that a lot and have thought about it in relation to many different aspects of my life.

*My weight loss, of late, has plateaued. And I think that's because I'm no longer at Point A, so it's not as painful to look in the mirror. But, I haven't reached Point B yet, either. So I really need to keep going.

*With Asher... I have become increasingly aware in the last week that I am at a painful Point A with him. We need to take some major disciplinary/teaching action with him to turn some bad behavior around before it's too late.

*With our whole lives. We are, in some ways, always at a painful Point A in our life here on Earth. It is our job to constantly be moving toward perfection/Point B/Life with God. I think the trouble is, sometimes we forget that Point A, where we are, is painful. We try to tell ourselves that's it's all OK because it doesn't really seem painful. And sure, life is really great a lot of the time. But, in relation to how life with God will be, it is really, really painful.

Your thoughts?

3 comments:

Kelly Jo said...

you got the title right, Marriage and Family Therapist is the "exact" title. You have it right for the most part, I would just add one point. Most human beings resist change because is often painful or requires effort, etc. You're at Point A, want to be at Point B but the process of change is painful, so you choose to stay at Point A. When staying at Point A becomes MORE painful than the process of changing to Point B, people change. This of course is a very simplified explanation but it covers the basics.

Kelly Jo said...

ps, I liked your thoughts and applications in your own life. We all can find these applications. It was nice going to the temple with you and I enjoy your insights and thoughts!

angela michelle said...

I always think the key to happiness is to be self-aware enough that you don't have to wait for Point A to become super painful before you start moving yourself forward. Like in your case, you're not going to wait until Asher is a teenaged drug addict (not that that would ever happen) before you start making some changes to get him on the right track. The sad people are the ones who procrastinate until Point A is a total disaster.