You might be halfway to changing yourself but haven’t realized it. Sometimes, entering the darkness is the way to find the light. The sunrise waits for you and returns tomorrow to offer another chance to meet it.
Have you thought …
- I do not want to be this person.
- I don’t want to keep pretending.
- I know I’m scared, but I must stop avoiding those situations I fear.
- I need to be able to speak or present in front of a group.
- I’m afraid I will lose my friends if I change.
- Not all of my friends are worth keeping.
- I worry about being rejected.
- What must I do to become more confident?
- Will a therapist think I’m not worth treating? I will fail at counseling.
- I hear that counselors don’t give out grades.
- I need more friends.
- I make excuses not to go where I think I will be uncomfortable.
- I can’t eat alone in fine restaurants.
- I prefer talking on Zoom or on the telephone. I feel safer. Texts and emails are even better.
- I never know what to say but want to find the words.
- My parents and siblings are disappointed in me.
- My pet is my only real friend.
- I am easy to take advantage of. I feel used, but what would happen if I stopped?
- I avoid leadership opportunities if I can.
- I am not seen — not known by some people I’m closest to.
- I have made poor choices of friends.
- I read self-help books instead of changing what I do in the world.
- I need to go out more to places where I can meet people
- I compare how unhappy I feel with how joyous everyone else appears. Are they faking it?
- No more excuses. It is time!
If you have several of these thoughts, you are already more honest about yourself than many, including some you admire.
Half the work of psychotherapy is done.
The future holds risks for all of us, but we can also make ourselves over. An old expression reminds us that “every knock is a boost.” Learning and resilience can come from taking on challenges and enduring the defeats fate delivers. A therapist will remind you that you are not alone.
Perhaps you will gain a new perspective on the world and your place in it. Yes, the end of summer grows darker, but Camus wrote, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf’s a flower.”
The sculptor’s clay stretches before you, waiting for your hands to reshape it. Listen to its quiet voice.
==========
The first image is The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai. It is followed by a view of San Francisco in Fog with Rays, posted by Brocken Inaglory. Both of these were sourced from Wikimedia Commons.
Finally, an Arizona Sunset on a Train Trestle, photographed in late July 2020, near Tucson by the superb photographic artist Laura Hedien, with her permission: Laura Hedien Official Website.
