CRISIS

How long would we listen to a friend complain about the pain in their broken leg when they refuse to get it fixed?   How long before we throw up our hands and let them take responsibility for their health?

It’s so easy to see the craziness of the situation when we’re talking about a physical issue.  Yet when it comes to change, either our own or someone close to us, we enable this kind of craziness.  For example, how many hours have we listened to friends lament about some hurtful things in their lives that they refuse to do anything about?   How many times have we heard them recite the same litany of issues and yet have done absolutely nothing about them?  Still we remain shoulders to cry on, we offer comforting words, we try to think of solutions for them knowing full well that they have no intention of using them.  

What we have to realize is that we are not being helpful, we are being used.  People who talk about change but don’t actually make any, are using us.  The talk for these people is the doing.  That’s why nothing gets done. 

The sad reality is that most people don’t change unless there befalls them an unbearable crisis.  The greater the resistance to change, the greater the crisis needs to be.  We need to get out of their way in order for that crisis to happen.  It’s the hardest and yet the kindest thing we can do.