Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Week 4 Day 3


A lot of people think, that when I counsel people, I just sit and offer up advice and solutions to various problems. More specifically...that I fix those problems.

Hardly.

My job, and it's much harder than fixing some one's problem, is to get the other person to realize that their solutions are not working. It's often a source of amazement for me to have a person desperately seeking my advice spend a whole session telling me why they are going to continue doing the things that got them into their unhappy situation in the first place. I often end up asking them the famous Dr. Phil question..."so, how's that working for you?". It's considered a major breakthrough when a person can come to the conclusion that "it's not working very well at all" and open themselves up to trying something different.

I'm no different. My very good friend, Boyd , made some observations and comments concerning my diet that I had been listing for a few days. Good, sound advice and given with his sincere desire to help me attain the goals I wanted.

But what did I do with all that great advice?

I argued. I rationalized. I read every comment he made with a "but, but, but" going through my mind to explain why I was doing what I was doing and why it was the right thing to do. Even while complaining that what I was doing wasn't working.

Geeze....how embarrassing. Time to take some of that advice which I make a living out of giving to others.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. Sanity is the knowledge that if you want something different in your life, you have to do something different in your life.

Thanks Boyd.

2 comments:

Boyd said...

Jay I'm always here for you. I need you just as much as you need me :) I was worried that you might get mad at me lol.

Don said...

Jay,

Looks like you are slipping back to smoking frequently. Is it a good idea to cut back on food and smoking at the same time? Would it be better to cut back on smoking first, get over that habit, then work on the weight and food issues?

Don
http://exposeyourblog.com