By Judith E. Lipson, M.A., LPC

We humans are a funny lot. Oftentimes we appropriately complain about our situation – relationship, family, work status, coworkers, etc – and we hope that it will change. But when the opportunity for change actually arises, there is a tendency for the individual to retreat as a fear response, and continue with what is familiar.

I have been fascinated by the acceleration of change that has been taking place over the last decade or more. I have witnessed this acceleration of change in my own life, as well as in my clients’. Children and adults arrive for counseling for a particular reason, yet often learn that there is an underlying frustration or a lack of congruence between their inner self/goals and their outer actions. I help clients to align the two and to tolerate the lack of ease that they temporarily experience in the meantime.

I’ve seen many children and adults over the last few decades who are feeling a pull to something different and know that there is something more. Are you one of them? Here’s what you might be experiencing:

• You see the world differently than many others seem to.
• You feel a stirring or a quickening within.
• This quickening might leave you feeling agitated or nervous or excited or frustrated: Why is it taking so long?
• You observe the big picture, the layers, and the greater patterns.
• You recognize the need to care for or improve systems (education, healthcare, etc), or Earth herself.
• You feel incredibly frustrated by the slowness of change.

Some feel this quickening or in-congruency on a more personal level. You might not even identify that the in-congruency exists. Together we look at what is wanted, and how to receive or achieve it. These patterns may look like the following:

• You too frequently say yes when you wish or need to say no.
• You are afraid that your ideas will be ridiculed.
• You experience the world as a Sensitive – highly attuned to one or more of the five senses.
• You may be empathic – you not only feel bad for the other person (sympathy), but you can imagine yourself experiencing their feeling or situation … as they might be.
• You may have intuitive abilities, premonitions, or dreams that don’t feel like dreams.

I have been enthralled by the following observation: When people begin to recognize and understand their true, authentic self, and then develop the congruency between their inner and outer worlds, many anxiety patterns are alleviated.

Let’s talk a little more about this time of great change. Besides the observation of so many individuals who are experiencing this desire to change big patterns personally or globally (or somewhere in between), it seems that the time we are living in is accelerating and accentuating this sensation. So if you are a way-shower or change-agent in this lifetime, even if you do not yet know it, you are feeling the pull. You may have felt – though not understood – this difference since you were a child, and it’s being accentuated and accelerated in this time in which we are living. Instead of looking back in history from the future to see that it occurred, some are identifying it now. The intuitive and empathic people that I mentioned earlier are often the ones who feel it and see the signs. They may feel the changing alignments of the planets (as described by our astrologers) and/or the pull of energy that our way-showers can recognize.

A time of great change is not to be feared, even though that is our tendency. Remember, neither different nor uncomfortable is bad.

This may seem paradoxical, and for some of you it may seem uncomfortable, but find the common threads that are shared within our different faiths, ethnicities, race, gender, sexuality, political parties and views. The first common thread is that so many of us want change, and are feeling the pull at varying levels. You can feel more grounded during these times of great change through acceptance and understanding, and by seeking to live more authentically and personally empowered.

Judy Lipson is a Licensed Professional Counselor and educational strategist in West Bloomfield, MI. She helps clients of all ages who have learning difficulties, work or school related anxiety, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorders, and those who wish to Remember and Become ‘Who You Really Are’. Contact Judy at 248.568.8665 and judylipson@spiralwisdom.net, and visit www.SpiralWisdom.net for more information.

This article is for informational purposes and is not meant to replace medical care.

Finding Hope in an Insecure World

By Judith E. Lipson, M.A., LPC

The challenges that Earth and our society face are all around us: diminishing rain forests, herbicides, pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food supply, terrorism, superbugs, etc. It can even bring unease to an eternal optimist, like myself. Some of my students and adult clients have expressed their worries. They are concerned about the state of our world, and the youth often wonder whether they should bother setting goals for a future more than 10 years away.

I suggest we look at the situation from a different perspective. Human nature recognizes problems primarily when they are distinctly apparent, and it seems we have been given numerous opportunities to be enlightened. What if it didn’t need to be so obvious and instead, we allowed ourselves to recognize a problem before it was seemingly out of control?

Some people sense that change is approaching, yet they only know how to language it in terms with which they are familiar. As a result, they assume a fear-based model and believe that the end of the world is imminent. I remember that in response to Y2K (the transition to the new millennium on January 1, 2000) people filled bathtubs. In December 2012 there was fear about the “ending of the Mayan calendar”. Yet, we are still here!

We are not coming to the end of time, however we are moving into a new age. History informs that we have already moved through the industrial and technological ages. Future historians will describe the present times as a new age.

Some see change as different and respond with fear. Though they know the current situation is unacceptable, it’s all they know and they hold on too tightly. These individuals avoid change to something unknown. Yet when an unhealthy relationship or an unfulfilling job is finally let go, the outcome is appreciated and embraced.

Keeping our head in the sand is not protective. Worrying does not create change. Action creates change.  These are monumental problems, and I realize that I am one person, just as you are. Each of us can identify one thing to work on and encourage others to support, or we can encourage them to find their own thing. Maybe your one thing is feeding the homeless, recycling, or not using disposable water bottles. You can use your expertise, financial resources or time to bring change. It can be close to home or across the globe. Action is the solution. Action also alleviates depression and anxiety.

You can learn to embrace change as exciting. Realize that different assuredly does not mean bad. Different is necessary and not to be feared. Change agents across the globe are intuitively recognizing that the status quo is not acceptable and are embracing change. A weeklong course being offered by Harvard University in 2014 says, “A change agent uses creativity, power, and authority to intervene and mobilize people to face tough realities. One does not have to be the boss to be a change agent. Leadership is an activity, not a position.”

Many change agents are intuitive, empathic and tired of waiting for the systems to make the necessary and needed changes. These Indigo children (youth and adults) are encouraging a return to our awakened state: being present, focusing on peace and striving to deeply connect to others. Indigos realize that change is at hand.

Some say that we have a window of a few hundred years to make significant changes for our sustainability. Jean Houston is one of many visionaries who has shared the good news that she is witnessing large numbers of people in third world and industrialized countries generating the changes that we need.

I see change agents everywhere: children and adults, in my practice, in my family and in my social circles. Look around you, at your family, your children and in the mirror. Who are the change agents that you know?

Today’s Indigos and other change agents know it is important that we create and support the coming of this new age. It is expected to bring an era of greater peace and sustainability.

For the healing of our planet and for peaceful coexistence, we must push fear out of the way and embrace the limitless possibilities. Awareness is not the enemy. It is the seed for change. Worry can be used as your catalyst. Join the other change agents across the globe. We are each the solution. What will you do to maintain hope in this insecure world?

Judy Lipson is a Licensed Professional Counselor and educational strategist in West Bloomfield. She helps clients of all ages who have learning difficulties; work or school related anxiety; ADHD; Asperger’s Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorders; and those who wish to Remember and Become Who You Really Are. Contact Judy at 248.568.8665 and judylipson@spiralwisdom.net, and visit www. SpiralWisdom.net for more information.

Published in My Metro You July 2013