LIFE ADVICE How many therapists does it take to change a light-bulb?

How many therapists does it take to change a light-bulb?


Regina Cunnane

It’s interesting how many people want their lives to be different but don’t really want to change themselves.
Before you really make changes, you usually have to have reached to a stage where you just cannot go on the way you are going. We are creatures of habit, and we don’t like to leave our comfort zone too easily.
I think we have an obligation to ourselves to live the best and happiest lives we can. We owe it to ourselves and also to our families. We all want our children to be happy, but is that the model we present to them? Do we show them how to live a life that requires us to challenge ourselves and face our problems with courage, even excitement? A good question to ask yourself when you are about to do something difficult is, ‘What would I do if I was not afraid?’. A life coach asked me that question once and it had a very liberating effect on me. I started to think differently about the problem I was having. I was able to make a decision I didn’t even think was possible because I was afraid of what the other person would think of me – and of course I thought they would think negatively. What really freed me up was the thought that maybe it would be okay if the person in question did have negative feelings towards me.
It’s always a good idea to start with small changes, so it feels reasonably comfortable before you dive in and make really big changes. Start small and big things can happen.
Most importantly, you have to be motivated from within. There’s a joke I’ve heard that, like most jokes that are funny, rings true: How many therapists does it take to change a light-bulb? One – but the light bulb has to want to change.