Join Me On the Journey

I have spent a great deal of time thinking about when and why true change occurs in a person. When I read, it’s what I notice. Even when I read a novel, I notice how the characters are growing and changing and what factors produce that change. I have read extensively about personality types, relationships, psychology, and parenting; and in everything I read, I am always thinking about what the author says about how and why people change.

This morning (while I was sweating away, red-faced on the treadmill ) I was listening to a podcast of Joyce Meyer who was interviewing John C. Maxwell and Les Parrott, PH.D. John Maxwell said something that filled in a piece of the puzzle for me and I wanted to share it with you.

There are three things that precipitate change in a person.

1. When you hurt enough, you have to change.
2. When you learn enough, you want to change.
3. When you receive enough, you are able to change.

Let’s think about these for a moment.

First of all, “When you hurt enough, you have to change.” This is the reason that I have focused on the most. I had in my head that the only time that people truly change is when they hit bottom and there’s no way out but up. I’ve been there…a couple of times. I understand what it’s like to feel my life was so bad that I needed to make a major change in order to go on. In fact, if you’ve read my blogs, you may have read comments like, “True change occurs when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”

However, I realize now that the recent changes in my life have not been because of this first reason. My life is awesome right now. Nothing big, bad, and ugly precipitated the changes that began in November of 2006 and have culminated in my writing to you today. I realize that the recent changes in my life have occurred because of reasons two and three. I had learned and received enough that I was willing and able to change.

A few days ago, I wrote about my obsession with reading. (From Learner to Teacher) I take nuggets from nearly every book or article I read, or talk I listen to. I add those tidbits of information to the knowledge I had already acquired, reformulated them and as a result, I have come to this place in my life where I would love to have the opportunity to share all of it with you. That desire is burning in my heart.

A big part of what is spurring me on to write here is the possibility that I could help you change because I helped you learn enough to make you want to change; or because I provided you with enough information that you were able to change.

Can you think of a time when you’ve made significant change in your life? Tell us about it. Click the “comments” button below.

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