Building Blocks: The Encouraging Path to Change
Some dear friends of mine build beautiful homes. It is fascinating to watch as what was once grassy space becomes a place where people’s stories are lived out. The finished product is always lovely, and it becomes easy to lose sight of how much work went into the creation. Construction is that way– a detailed process of intentions and surprises, a plan that gives way to new elements or ideas along the way.
It is an easy metaphor for how personal construction and change look in our own individual lives. Like the building of a house, change often seems to arrive stone by laborious stone, placed with great energy, great mess, and ideally, trusted help. There are areas of life that are ripe construction zones of personal change, and yet the questions of where and how to begin sometimes feel impossible to answer.
Perhaps you are evaluating or even avoiding one such zone in your own life. Is there a relationship that is a consistent experience of confusion or pain, and yet you do not know what to do with the trouble and damage? Are there ‘construction zones’ in your career life, and you wish you had guidance to help you understand what building or rebuilding might look like? Have you experienced the pain of great loss, and now feel unsure how to navigate the empty ‘space’? Perhaps laying the first stone means seeking support and building a path to change.
Counseling can help you understand your struggles more deeply, and discover ways to start experiencing a path to change, ‘stone by stone’. In a true building project, each worker labors within a network of support. In whatever area of life where you would like to see new construction, remember that you are not alone. Seeking counseling can help you strengthen or even establish your support network, and the goal is change that is encouraging, true, and lasting. Call me to discuss how counseling can be a useful and empowering building block in your important journey of personal change.
