Lord, please help me to change - Judith Couchman

A TRU E VIE W O F YO UOne personalit y tes t describes m y type as always wanting "a n extr asqueeze ou t o f life." That's fine b y me, but I don't kno w ho w t ostop squeezing before I drain th e lif e out o f myself.I seldom recogniz e when enoug h i s enough.So that da y i n th e car , I knew missin g a stoplight—or eve nthinking about a n article—wasn' t th e rea l problem. The inciden tsimply indicated that , once again, I had take n o n to o much i n to olittle time .onsidering m y bent towar d overdoing it , it's easy to imagin ehow I'v e attempted persona l chang e i n th e past : I'v e trie dto alter to o many things at once. And that' s a surefire way to fail.To accomplish a task well, we need t o focus.Focus means we concentrate o n onl y one goal .That's difficul t for many o f us . We're a generation o f dail yplanner users , management-by-objectiv e employees , an d Ne wYear's resolution writers . W e make list s and expec t t o complet ethem i n rapid-fir e succession. W e think tha t th e mor e w e handle ,the more respecte d an d successfu l we'll be .We're als o a people o f burnout an d emotiona l breakdowns .We don't kno w ho w to focus.One o f my friends, a career pianist, has helped m e t o under -stand focus . I t began wit h a n inciden t i n colleg e whe n w e live dtogether. I spent day s studying for a test, taking numerous breaks ,letting m y mind wander , an d noddin g of f t o sleep. The nigh tbefore th e test , Nancy entered ou r roo m afte r 1 0 P.M. , pulled ou tthe textbook , an d bega n readin g severa l chapter s fo r the test —for the first time . True t o form, I fell asleep before she finished.The nex t mornin g w e both too k th e test . Nanc y received a n"A" and I got a low "B. "We're bot h smar t women, bu t Nanc y know s ho w t o focus .Twenty years later, I' m reminde d o f tha t when I see her leanin ginto th e piano , hand s a blur ove r th e keyboard , fillin g the roo mwith magnificent sounds .Me? I'm lat e getting thi s manuscript t o m y editor. I' m a slowlearner o n th e subject of focus.But i n th e pas t fe w years I've accepted tha t I can onl y han -dle on e chang e a t a time. Whil e I work o n managin g mone ybetter, it' s not wis e for me als o to diet. I risk getting too frustratedand givin g up on both. (I'v e done tha t i n the past. )33