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Final Blog (For Now)

 


"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change" 

Jim Rohn

        If there is one thing I love, take pleasure in and absolutely need in my life, is CHANGE! My life has had so many changes and taken so many detours and twists and turns especially in the past 9 years, that I have finally come to understand and genuinely accept that for me at least, there really is no final destination and it really is all about the journey. I say this even though I still have my very concrete goals, dreams and wishes (my bucket-list of 101 goals). 

            Photo courtesy of Lisa Fotios
Throughout my life and lately I seem to be wondering and reflecting more on why my life has always been so vastly different from those around me (namely my family and friends), why do I need and crave change so much, is it really a good thing? I don't know the answer quite yet but over the years, I have just told myself that I just happen to "march to the beat of my own drum" and I have "mostly" not been bothered by it and truly honor it. But sometimes and especially in this past few years, reflecting on all the changes in my life and specifically how they affected my family (marriage and children) has often left me wondering what is behind my constant need for change, what was behind some of my decisions and actions? Is it ADHD (mostly hyperactive type) which I self-diagnosed myself with a few years back? Fortunately, I practice what I preach and recently sought out a consultant/therapist to work with. I chose her because she practices the treatment modalities I will be incorporating into my own work with clients moving forward. And I LOVE her! In two sessions she helped discover aspects of myself that I had not looked at in over 30 years of my own personal growth journey (including working with a couple of other therapists in the past). She integrates IFS (Internal Family Systems) with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) and maybe her professional experience also is a contributing factor to why I think she's a great therapist. I am absolutely excited about the discoveries, growth and healing I am having and how it will affect my work as a therapist and the healing and transformation of my own clients. Being a therapist in therapy has been the biggest change of 2023 thus far (January isn't even over with) and there's so many more changes to come this year. Making the decision last year (2022) to train in newer evidence-based practices and finding my wonderful therapist (on my second try-first one was an interesting experience-not in a good way I would say) has made me feel inspired and hopeful for humanity. I believe the years of talk therapy and psychiatric/MD driven medication management approach has come to an end (a system I have willingly been a part of and still am). However the results are undeniable, it is not working. Perhaps it has been the best we have had thus far. But we must take an honest and hard look at the fact that our system of mental health care in this country has been failing miserably for years. Our rates of mental health issues in the US and other Western countries continue to rise. We are in the throes of an epidemic of anxiety, depression, substance use, suicide and violence. It is time for a paradigm shift. I hope to do my part through my professional work and my nonprofit volunteer work to be part of the biggest change in mental health and well-being that this country has had in decades! (What can I say, I dream BIG).

I started this blog with my first post in December of 2017 mostly because I wanted to get into the whole social media marketing craze. But after a few weeks, I soon realized, I didn't have the time or the energy to write blog after blog, day after day and week after week. I will admit though, I have also never felt that I have much more to share that had't already been written by someone else with much more knowledgeable than I. I realized I like to read and learn more than I like to write. My goal changed to writing my blog posts more as a cathartic exercise and to chronicle my journey (mostly to myself). I now end it, at least for the time being, with this last blog-January 2023 as I really have run out of any extra time due to being extremely "good" busy place in my life. I have recently realized that sitting down to write a post feels more like a "should" and chore then a fun thing to do. 
I have decided to focus any free time I might have to write in the next 1-2 years to writing part II of my self-published book, Balls The Size of Melons (see link below). But as mentioned I have a busy decade in front of me as I work towards continual betterment of myself, my clients, the teens and young adults I mentor and humanity!

As always to learn more about my work please visit:


Book: Balls The Size of Melons-all proceeds go to Vida Center, a volunteer run nonprofit formed to promote and bring awareness to mental health and well-being. To purchase click below or here: available to buy on Amazon. 

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