Julie Cohen
Marriage and Family Therapist
Julie Cohen is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist MFT and a Child Mental Health Specialist with a private practice in Los Angeles Her areas of focus include depression anxiety panic post-traumatic stress bipolar…
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I am Lovable and Capable Part lll: Become a Force of Nature
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Posted in Adoption by Julie Cohen on May 15, 2008

I wasn't planning on a part three to this series but so many of your comments and messages about part one and two gave me pause to think I may have left you all hanging. Many of you wanted to know how to protect your IALAC sign. I realized it's not only about protecting it. What's equally important is making it stronger! So I offer this story about self awareness and becoming an active participant in your own life. I also wanted to give credit again to the author of the IALAC curriculum, Dr. Sidney B. Simon (Simon Workshops).


Etta (my dog) and I took a walk this morning. Often we go to a local park that has a man-made lake. Quite beautiful considering the urban sprawl that I am surrounded by. Anyway, thousands of ducks converge on the lake and its shore daily. As Etta and I were rounding a bend we saw hundreds of ducks hugging the edge of the shore and this little boy (maybe 4 years) running through them. This little guy was quite a force of nature as all the ducks were forced to make a decision. Most easily flopped into the lake. And others covered their beaks hoping not to get caught up in this little tornado of energy.


Anyway it made me think about how hard it is to enact change. I mean changes that are good for us, that we really need to do but just can't (or won't?). And it often feels like there needs to be some sort of "Force of Nature" to begin the process. I have at times felt like the ducks. Waiting...Waiting...Waiting on the shore. Avoiding taking the first step towards changes I know I need to make. And then my own personal force of nature hits. As a woman over 40 those forces of nature seem to come more frequently i.e.: the results of cholesterol screening or throwing my back out through too much physical activity such as bending over! Anyway, I am forced to make a decision it's either into the lake, or covering my beak and hope for the best. To come full circle, the reason Etta and I are walking in the park to begin with and were able to have this epiphany, Is that this time, I embraced the force--trying to stay healthy through eating better and exercise. May the force be with you all!


I think from time to time we all experience life changing opportunities. Sometimes they are subtle and other times they hit us like a ton of bricks. Regardless of how they arrive, there is always a choice that accompanies them; embrace it or reject it! Embracing or enacting change takes courage and often requires a leap of faith. But inevitably by becoming your own force of nature you strengthen your IALAC sign.


This story was a Daily Strength journal entry that I wrote about a year ago. And FYI, Etta and I were walking in the park this morning, watching ducks and the little boys that chase them!


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Displaying comments 1-1 of 1
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With all due respect, making change is not as easy as it may sound. There are many factors and variables that must be taken into account before one takes any action.

Physical, mental, and emotional conditions must play an active part, and cannot be taken lightly. There are some legitimate barriers that may block some of us from making that leap of faith.

I am not trying to put you down with anything that I have said. I am just trying to point out a few things that may have been overlooked.

Jim
By JimK  May 15, 2008
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