The Energy to Change

One of the most frequently cited barriers to change is exhaustion. For some of us, it is all we can do to get through the day. The demands of work, the family, and other responsibilities take so much out of us that we feel we are held hostage to our daily lives.

We complain that we can't get to the things we really love, that the demands placed upon us are so strenuous that we must sacrifice those things that we most enjoy.

I concede that many of us are over-extended. Often, though, we are our own worst enemy and refuse to set limits and boundaries. We fail to say what we need, ask for help or say "No." We also collude to our exhaustion by choosing to remain stuck in circumstances and relationships that we have outgrown.

Then there are those insidious victim patterns to consider. These are the stories from the past that we uphold through our self-talk that undermine our sense of adequacy, competency and self-esteem. It is as though these old wounds have defined our identity, rather than being incidents that have occurred within a much larger narrative of our lives.

Too much of our energy is wrapped up in these stories of our defeat, betrayal and humiliation. Too much of our energy goes towards upholding our weaknesses. It is little wonder that we don’t have the wherewithal to change. We have made too big an investment in our wounds to give them up or place them in proper perspective.

Instead, we stick a finger in the scab and reopen the wound thinking that the old emotional response is who we are, who we must always be.

As Carlos Castaneda reminds us: "Why would you choose to remain the same at the expense of your own wellbeing?"

Visionmakers seek to recover the energy that they have misplaced in the stories of the past. They recognize that these stories are always the same, and never change because they have been repeated word for word for so long.

Rather than indulge in the past, Visionmakers seek to bring these stories to completion through honorable closure. What must be realized, said, or rectified in order for me to move on with my life? How can I recover my energy and apply it to what is really meaningful in the present and future?

Visionmakers refuse to indulge in the past. They have a rendez-vous with Destiny that they are committed to keep.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved