Salee Reese

As a therapist, I know that I often encourage my clients to try things that feel foreign to them.  You have no idea how foreign this is for me! I am a real, dyed-in-the-wool, genuine technophobe.  C’mon, I check my email twice a week!  True story, sometime back a client sent me an email requesting an appointment on a particular day, but I didn’t even read it until the appointed day had passed.  *sigh*

Another hat I enjoy wearing is my writer hat.  I wrote a newspaper column for fourteen years, and people have said to me, “I miss your columns!  When are you going to do more?”  The world of the internet and blogs have opened the door for that to happen.

In light of all this, and it being the start of a new year on top of that, what better topic for this first blog than that scary animal we call CHANGE.

change-neon

What I’ve come to realize is that until we’re repulsed by the status quo in our life, it won’t ever, ever change.

For many of us,  things slows down to a manageable pace after the holiday frenzy — giving us time to take a mental walk through our life.  We may ask:  What would I change?  Do I wish I had taken greater risks?  Did I settle for the familiar?  Does my life feel lifeless — unfulfilling?

Making changes is unsettling.  No question, some weighty portion of ourselves craves routines, schedules, sameness.  But another, more subtle side, craves change.  That side is nourished by adventure — the excitement of the unknown, and the act of being creative with our lives.

I wrote a column about this a while back . . .  Amy was sooo ready for a change, but her fear had her paralyzed.  I’d love to hear what you think!

Well, that’s it.  Thanks for reading my first blog!

6 Responses

  1. I can relate to that paralyzing fear. Change can feel like stepping off a cliff when really its more like stepping around a corner. A cliff feels dire, irreversible. A corner can be peeked around or even looked around. Don’t like where you are? There are corners leading fascinating places everywhere.

    1. I had to go back and read this, Jane. It’s one of those profound-over-the top insights that wouldn’t leave me alone. So I went there and soaked for awhile. Guess what? I found myself saying: “Yes, yes, YES!” Jane, you’re just so darned right!
      Thanks!

  2. It’s a good thing I wasn’t born Helen Keller. I would’ve been a blob sitting in the corner of the room my whole life. All I can say is, she did a great job being Helen Keller. Wow. Great article, Salee. I felt my paradigm shift a bit there 🙂