Seek and Embrace Change

 A message from Dena Jensen 
Dear Readers, 
    As it is the New Year's Eve, I found this appropriate to post. I think we can look back on this year of 2012 and see the changes in the world. Our New Years' are usually brought in with reflection of the past year, and resolutions of the New Year. I propose to make changes within you and when chaging, seek the best you, and the most happy you in those changes. This year make it about a true change of personal growth. Be happy and excited for this new you! 
 Thank you for reading our Posts and as you continue to read, my dad and I will continue to post. 
Happy New Year to all! 

We are always changing

  Your approach to your marriage might be expanded by considering a change of heart or what is sometimes called an awakening of the spirit. This is convincing when reading the case studies in William James's (1842-1910) classice book, "Varities of Religious Experience". 
 William James is known as the father of American Psychology, and he reported firsthand accounts of persons who had an awakening of their spirit that was strong enough to immediately and dramatically change their behavior, thinking and lives. This then leads us to another story: 

Bob was a health enthusiastic and euqally dedicated to maintaining his mind. He kept both mind and body in great shape. Bob was rational, analytical, and thoughful. When relationg with his wife he had the energy to give a lot of attention to her. He provided her everything and yet she found her relationship with him had no "zip, zing or spice". She found him lacking. Realizing this he tried to tell more jokes, travel to extoci destinations, and meet more friends of her liking. But, nothing he did helped, and though he tried to change, he still remained quite boring and unintersting. Can he change, should he change? If so, how could it happen? 

Decades ago, it was popular in psychology deptartments to teach a course ono individual differences. A book entitled, "Stability and Change in Human Characteristics", by Benjamin Bloom was often used. Benjamin Bloom convincingly showed that this matter about stability and change was a central question that needed and answer. Now, half a century later, there is still no accepted resolution to the question of stabillity and change. 
In general, we act as if each individual were a stable material object. However, when much reflection is given to this question, the answer is in favor of emphasizing change. You and I, and all people change during the course of their life. During the year, during the day, and even each moment. It is more useful to conclude that in understanding people we are dealing with constantly changing entities and not stable objects. Wouldn't you agree? 
  With the question of mind, body, and spirit, there is a quantitive jump in complexity. We know the changes in the mind influence the body. we know that bodily changes dramatically alter the mind, but now we add the spirit and the interactions jump multifold. Those who seem to know most about the spirit point out that the spirit also changes. Experssions as: "The Sprit Soared", "The spirit was strong that day", and "The experience seem to have broken his spirit", lead to the belief that people's spirits range from strong and vibrant to weak or dead. Sometimes it seems that the spirit departs for a period of time and we feel the absence. Differences in spirit are said to vary from person to person, and within the person, from time to time and place to place. Whenever this happens, people are changed. 
 Thus, when we consider that all of us are constantly changing it is foolish to fight personal change or try to project an image that we are a finished product. Pretending that we are stable will clash with the truth, and increased unwanted personal instability will be one of the by products.