“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference” (2)
There are the changes that happen to us and around us – age, health, seasons, events – and our reaction to those changes rather than the changes themselves may influence how we are affected. We can recognise that change is happening, accept or fight/resent those changes, but they are often inevitable and we may have to change our thinking, lifestyle or patterns of behaviour in order to deal with them.
However, making the changes that might improve our well-being, possibly without an external ‘trigger’ – exercising more, eating more healthily, being more aware of our posture – can seem daunting. Our head tells us that if we change nothing, nothing changes, but it’s often easier to stay with our habits. Try crossing your arms the other way round from how you do it naturally and you can see just how difficult and strange it feels to do something differently.
However it might only need a small decision or step to start the process. Involving a friend in your change, giving yourself a timetable to plan it – ‘Think it, believe it, do it’, following a self-help book, working with a professional you trust, giving yourself rewards when you achieve a small step, will all help you stick with the process of change.
A holistic complementary therapy treatment which starts with a health consultation and lifestyle assessment can help ‘kickstart’ your change, and subsequent treatments can maintain the momentum of that change and reward yourself for making the change.
(1) Anthony J. D’Angelo
(2) Reinhold Niebuhr
‘Southwell Life’ – June 2007