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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>Dear friends and
colleagues,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>I pose some thoughts
here about CHANGE.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>In our western
culture, I find that <U>change</U> is a negative word. When was the last
time you heard someone say "you've changed" and meant it as a compliment.
Usually it is meant as a negative. "You've changed and you no longer fit the
illusion I have of you." " You've changed and you no longer meet my
needs." " You've changed and I will do everything in my power to get you
to change back again."</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>In our western
culture, I find that when people leave a marriage, it is often because one or
the other or both persons thought that they could change the other. When the
change did not happen, the marriage didn't last. People rarely marry each other,
accepting each other just as he/she is. OR people marry each other and
accept each other just as he/she is and then when one or the other or both
partners grow and evolve and CHANGE, the people involved don't cope with it,
like a promise has been broken.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>As individuals, as
couples, as families, if we are truly alive, change is a constant. And yet we
are ill-equipped to work with change in a way that is accepting and celebrating
of it. I say "if we are truly alive" which for me means seeking living that is
life nurturing rather than life depleting. I see so many many individuals that
have joined "the procession of the living dead". Was CHANGE a factor in their
choice to hide themselves in jobs that are life depleting, in their tv sets
because they cannot cope with the real world around them, in their addictions. I
know this is much more complex than I am suggesting here. I am simply
postulating that CHANGE and the incapacity to work with change, navigate with
change, celebrate change is A factor.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>Now comes the part
where I shift my ponderings to organizations. Change management is an oxymoron.
Change cannot be managed and yet there are many consultants who sell themselves
as "change managers" or their programs as "change management programs".
Organizations like to hire them. It feels safe, I guess, to believe in the
illusion that change can be managed.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>And then I think
about whenever anyone has tried to CHANGE me from an external perspective. The
rebel in me surfaces, the warrior surfaces, and I dig my heels in. And yet I am
a person who has CHANGED many many many times over in this lifetime. I am firmly
committed to my growth and evolution and trusting Spirit and being in the moment
with whatever the moment brings. My change comes from my commitment, my
willingness, my discipline, my irreverence, my heart and body and mind and soul,
my essence. Because I want to be all that I can be. I seek out my mentors, I
place intentions to the universe, I enter into relationships that will help me
learn and grow and that are life giving to me. It is my CHOICE to change. And I
have the wisdom to seek what I need to go along as far as I can and am ready
for. Not because someone else has determined what is right or good for me from
their perception. Sometimes I go fast, sometimes I go slow, and sometimes it
looks like I am not moving at all. All takes place in its right time. I know
that when I allow someone to assist me in my personal growth, it is because I
feel understood, accepted, and loved just for who I am at this
moment.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>And despite people
saying "you've changed", I wonder if I have changed or simply cast away more of
my veils, my shields, my false clothes to be more of who I already am. To stand
in my fullness, my authenticity, my integrity to the extent that I have made
contact with the deep in me. I peel away illusions and get to what is already
present. Aside from my body aging, maybe I don't change at
all.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=890383223-01092000>This affects how I
approach working with organizations.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000>Birgitt</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=890383223-01092000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Black" size=2>Birgitt Williams</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Black" size=2>Make Genuine Contact!</FONT></DIV>
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