As soon as you say, “I want to change”—make a program—a counter-force is created that prevents you from change. Changes are taking place by themselves. If you go deeper into what you are, if you accept what is there, then a change auto­matically occurs by itself. This is the paradox of change.

— Frederick S. Perls

Dr. Frederick S. Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy, pro­foundly influenced my life. When I worked in therapeutic communities, to “Gestalt” a feeling meant to go fully into that feeling, to become one with that feeling, to totally and completely accept the feeling and the experience as a means of transcending, healing, or dealing with it.

How do we change? Don’t force yourself. Let yourself

change. Let yourself be. Go as fully into the experience of

your life, your feelings, and being you that you can.

When you come out, you’ll be different.

Accept who you are then, too.

Don’t intellectualize your life. Experience it.

God, help me accept who and where I am, and how I feel today. Then tomorrow, help me do the same.