Have You Finished Changing?

Remember how it was when you were in kindergarten? And how much you had changed by the time you got to high school? How about that book you read by Nietzsche (or Jung, or Suzuki, or anyone you care to mention)? Didn't that create a wave of change? And then again, when you started dating, you changed even more. The way you began to see yourself as you dated in those years, created further change. When one of your early serious 'dates' decided to stop seeing you, the inner turmoil created by that decision, and how you dealt with it, changed you again. As did your determination to get the absolutely best grade point average possible at your school. And when you moved away from home to the city where you went to university you changed again, and when you decided to drop your major in economics and move over to architecture instead, well, that was an enormous change.

What about that first part-time job you had to help pay for your tuition? That made you change, didn't it? The interactions you had with the people there had a role in that. As did the fact that you did not like the job, but needed the money. And then, after you graduated, the first real job you had, you found yourself changing again. As you did when you bought your first car with your own money; your first house; or paid for your first major vacation with money you had earned. And again, you changed when you married, when you had children, and when you received a promotion at work that put you in charge of 12 people.

Another big promotion set you off to another city on the other side of the country, and more responsibilities, and again you changed, as you did when you were transferred to an even more involved professional position in a foreign country. You changed when you met that person with whom you subsequently had an affair, and you changed when you got divorced, and you changed when you resolved all the details about your children with your ex-spouse. You changed when you learned French, and you changed when you took a six-month sabbatical and spent it in Nepal. When your father died you changed again, and when you realized your youngest child was now the age you were when you got married, and by means of the prism of your child's life, you look back at the years of your own life that have gone by so quickly.

So my point is this: have you finished changing now? Can you sit back and relax because nothing needs to change anymore? Is your life all set and secured?

I hope your answer is no, no matter what your age and circumstances. I hope you realize that it is only as long as change is occurring that you will continue to grow. I hope you know that lack of change equates to lack of growth and therefore to stagnation, and finally, I hope that you avidly seek change as a fascinating element of your life. It was Benjamin Franklin who said when you are finished changing, you're finished.

Image: Ama Dablam, one of the most stunning peaks in the Himalaya

***************

Also visit my book website: www.gabriellakortsch.com where you may download excerpts or read quotations from any of my books. My latest book Emotional Unavailability & Neediness: Two Sides of the Same Coin is now also out globally on Amazon in print & Kindle. You can also obtain it (or any of my other books) via Barnes & Noble.

Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch

Note: If you are wondering why this blog is now only appearing on alternate days (excluding Sat/Sun), it is because I also post on my other blog on the others days. That other blog is Rewiring the Soul so named for my first book. Click here to visit the blog and/or to sign up for the feed.

Find more free articles from my monthly newsletters as well as more information about my work at Advanced Personal Therapy

My blog posts are also featured on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest & you can find me on Instagram