There has been a song running around in my head recently. In it a young lady sings that someday she's going to live in a big old city but the person that she's singing to is only going to be mean.
Besides asking you to not judge me about my music tastes (and what's the big deal about living in a big old city?), I want to ask you a serious question. Have you ever been on either side of that issue? Have you ever been where you thought someone was never going to change.
Have you ever felt stuck where you thought you were never going to change. Where when you looked at other people, you knew that they thought you were never going to change?
One of the reasons that I am a counselor is because I believe that everyone can change. You don't have to be held captive by your past. You can change your behaviors. No one has to be bound by their parents. Just because your parent was a drunk, does not mean that you have to be. If you are mean, you do not have to be.
You can change.
I can be different tomorrow, than I was yesterday.
It will require hard work. It will probably be painful. It will require us to give up something that is comfortable and familiar but probably destructive. It will probably require us realizing we cannot do it on our own.
Are you stuck in a rut doing some behavior you don't want to be doing? Call a counselor. Set up an appointment. Every study shows that counseling helps most people change.
Let me ask one more question. What have you found to be the most effective change strategies for your own life?