SeptemberNewsletter

We are hearing a lot about change lately. The season is changing, the air is cooling, the sun is getting
lower in the sky and the Democrats and Republicans are shouting each other down about how they
are going to make change. Our gardens are showing their last summer flowers and we are beginning
to get ready for another season of our lives.

Change can come swiftly or in a slow steady pace. It's how we choose to deal with the changes that
predicts how we feel about them. Change can be seen as a positive growth experience or a negative
impact, depending on how or why it comes about. We can deal with change and the stress or
excitement it brings in different ways.

1. Plan for change and make it happen in a way that we can more easily deal with and accept.
2. React to the change that we encounter by realizing that change is an inevitable part of life. Try to
go with the flow by making the necessary transformations to get yourself upright again.
3. Make big changes that involve reinventing ourselves, or
4. Initiate small changes over a period of time that will produce a sense of satisfaction and balance.

"The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. The third step is action."
-Nathaniel Branden

Change is in the Air

Remember that old children's story, The
Little Engine That Could? Watty Piper tells
a story about the engine that agreed to
bring toys to all the good boys and girls on
the other side of the mountain. He wasn't
sure at first that he was up to the task, but
little by little, he thought "I think I can, I
think I can", until he made it over the big
mountain and pulled into the station. This
wasn't something he planned to do that
day, but out of necessity he offered to give
it a try and did his best to complete the
journey. Sometimes that's just what we
have to do. Just get on the tracks, and
take one mile at a time reminding
ourselves that we can do this, little by little.
Like the Little Engine, we will need
supporters giving us encouragement and
praise to help us along the way. Find
people in your life that will value your ideas
and give you good feedback along the
way.

Martin Luther King Jr said, "Faith is taking
the first step even when you don't see the
whole staircase."

Think You Can?

Gail Brokaw, MA, CC
Life and Career Coaching
lifecoach@embracethepossibility.org
Elk Grove, CA
(916) 205-8041