One theme that has fascinated me and inspired my life above others has been transformation. Change! What a definer in so many ways. If there is one thing above all that shows you what you still need to learn, it is putting yourself in new and different circumstances. That was the case in my first “professional” job. When I moved into the office they assigned me, there was a poster on the wall:
“SOMETIMES WE NEED TO SACRIFICE WHO WE ARE FOR WHO WE CAN BECOME”
I didn’t pick this poster; apparently it picked me by the mere fact it was already in the office, up on the wall directly in my line of vision. At first I didn’t agree with it, arguing with the words, particularly the word “sacrifice”. Why should I have to sacrifice anything?
Yet I never removed the poster, leaving it where I found it.
There were days waiting on hold, phone cradled on my shoulder, that I would contemplate the words; wondering why don’t I just remove it from my view, from the office, freeing me to not argue with it. One day on a particularly long hold I extended out the phone cord, craning my neck and stretching my arm until I reached a Webster’s Dictionary tucked into a book shelf. I sat on hold, flipping pages until I located the word sacrifice. After a brief scan I hung up the phone and truly read the words.
Sacrifice – a giving up of something valuable or important, for somebody or something else considered to be of more value or importance.
My viewpoint tilted, changing what I had previously questioned to “What would I be willing to give up, lose to become a better version of who I am?” Little did I know then what the future held for me. That I would have to learn to be a change master.
Change is universal, yet personal. Universal because we all experience it. Personal because “This is happening to ME”. Universal also in the sense that a primal part of our brain’s mandate is to keep us safe. Yet change means the new, the different and the unknown will all be presented for our brain to manage. How then does it keep its human safe, when all the rules have changed? Or conversely, how can we embrace change and still remain safe? Our very human brain screams for us to hold on to the old, even if it doesn’t serve us well.
Yet our cognitive, thinking brain seeks out new experiences and challenges. It contains our personal agenda of how we would like our life to become. It is that part of us that inspires us to try a new career, a new locale, or to climb that mountain just to see the view. It is our journey.
Change involves losing those messages in the brain that are negative, uninspiring and downright sabotaging toward the goals we want to achieve. Some of my changes seemed to happen with ease, some took years for me to accommodate and make peace with.
When I’d step back and take a look at what was creating the difficulty with change, I usually found the answer within me. In fact, the answer was… “me”.
Why do I believe so strongly in PSYCH.K? Because it is a simple, effective, peaceful process that addresses the parts of me that are holding me back. Thereby allowing me to become the person I want to be.
About Emerging Insights
Our goal is to help individuals connect with and thrive in their human experience. Whether you want to get in touch with your inner strenghts using our Insights Assessment, or dig deep with a PSYCH-K session, Emerging Insights will deliver the inspiration and passionate connection necessary to broaden attitudes and expand belief systems – to encompass the exciting realm of possibilities!
People are multi-dimensional with common experiences expressed in individual journey. While change and growth on a professional level may seem separate from your personal life, they are usually intertwined to a greater level than people realize. One world will often spiral up or down taking the other along for the ride. To be fully integrated and self-actualized, attention must be given to the whole person.
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Diane Elarde has spent the last 10 years as a Psychology professor at Maricopa Community College. Prior to that she worked for 18 years in technology sales management, and was inducted as a Xerox Global Leader In Sales Management.
She is a successful writer, featured in 3 books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and a contributing author for CORP magazine and Thrive Detroit.
She is the author of the short story collection A Star in my Hand.