%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 19 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 15 0 R /I2 16 0 R /I3 23 0 R /I4 24 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 17 0 R /GS2 18 0 R /GS3 21 0 R /GS4 22 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250503152244+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250503152244+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1299 >> stream xVMs6W챝!{4iq.ic  ((ULǩ(ۇݷ;KX$0٫%dE)ekC` ,7|No%6VK| ?,gf4W,YwY`97 o<\[1ORVL^'eeYAt+gJ?}@/h7YA?+jV-^09)1ayI8g7>Ʋ@LcL OV66fk0i/a;mR|^t ޛ7.圳/"_BoE_IkhC%ln̷ʁ3Vjγ.آ*#$t Aio;BqsVZ1hXE8Pz ff!cakARtCZ!Q!_-bEmB=N ˏ!UaN<8VϕLؑJ(10x~wO1|twOiR54]uV R%R{u7$h'eOLg1.YRvGVw`$JIJ7!hN5-`lzc!KzBho7C A R<{eh`6V WrVʣvwn TN!X9r.*HAyz3Z:7GqP%ȹro` ¼ Z%.\L`s=>%S ΟT8ǖ蓏3*Y*g_qp$Ev0·{|I0en#z꜆,p;^GiY:)X(i򞿹Oaz=ˎ#o|,32gOj:R _牂 endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 20 0 R >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1993 >> stream xXM`n ern3I6=d ȁiӒz6޼"eat-YǪ^X~ϗǿ~ұc“$a'jWl['OY=?LA^ NtlRšu?=D˲ozy+1nuKmY݁줻ΰQ1mkɩ8J)\2YQ dKnWYTV#72^YqP4 q{xAOJ3HB/;)k:a[|嶺_|-b띐OIicNb~*::6NEc7ب&3:qYaO̿dB&C*Tle,v-43 @3iT!X XսפU=X@U+IwivUޝy }6Ԃ/$Tv4ìӽbV yxi؄kĪK%nu]v'>:EƄ+nB;1)RYw~>Ww)ϒ7(4y BK5bVI>ąIf|23jP !~-Qچҷނvdkc07B_oӘVݰ^<lYKJ=ȭ>{!=N\B^BcfK,eil4'DKOfp7jӊ-8^/.7לpW/ҘTи47;I rnE)ocfPB2F|^VԪ3uN|8Z(>5ΐ!U{ &P4zO 9*3vdE '>Lg3,7τ{w'[Vs R΂t>y5y[LI~jj#\);}3 `@(jqD_6$n„8{l2(c$&P]ipe=XmZgW nTVyJe@O'4wb{ϗd㷱iÊ,l[%F<5cXE Yъql> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj xref 0 25 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000461 00000 n 0000000498 00000 n 0000000647 00000 n 0000000750 00000 n 0000002122 00000 n 0000002229 00000 n 0000002337 00000 n 0000002447 00000 n 0000002560 00000 n 0000002676 00000 n 0000002705 00000 n 0000002815 00000 n 0000008390 00000 n 0000009521 00000 n 0000009580 00000 n 0000009639 00000 n 0000009744 00000 n 0000011811 00000 n 0000011868 00000 n 0000011925 00000 n 0000017500 00000 n trailer << /Size 25 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<3041fb23c02f9a485b8f4e23b44ac994><3041fb23c02f9a485b8f4e23b44ac994>] >> startxref 18631 %%EOF On the Corner | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

On the Corner

July 25, 1996
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

By Robert Docter –

Change…I wonder why we find this so difficult.

We live in a world that reveals different faces each morning of our lives. We are surrounded by people who present dramatic differences from us and from each other. As we age we begin to view the world, those around us and ourselves from different vantage points. These new perspectives provide us with different insights and open the possibility of different meaning. Our bodies reveal the reality of change–our skin, our joints and muscles, our brains. They all speak to us of change taking place even in the environment of our lives.

Still, we seem to resist change.

I think one of the most destructive cliches foisted on an unsuspecting humanity is the notion that “ignorance is bliss.”

It’s not. Ignorance is simply the absence of knowing–it is a willingness to remain in some kind of cozy, non-threatening, safe state to the exclusion of personal growth.

Some individuals resist change. Why?

One superficial reason might be laziness. Change requires an effort. It’s something that requires work. One must assess and evaluate the present situation. Thinking must take place. Planning is required–and then, horror of horrors, one must act. To resist change for reasons of laziness is sloth.

A more fundamental reason exists. Fear! Yes, being willing to change is threatening. It challenges our desire to remain safe. It reaches in and grabs our vitals and demands that we either lash out in anger or withdraw in cowardice. Our fear level provides an excellent personal risk quotient. As we resist the challenge of change through fear we are telling ourselves that we are insecure and need more safety. This is a rational response sometime when the threat is unknown, when our personal resources are meager, when our strength or knowledge base is low, when our guilt is high, when our self confidence is depressed. But if we refuse to work to generate additional resources, add to our strength, grow in knowledge, make amends and seek forgiveness for our bad choices, lift our self confidence and move to a position of willingness to confront change, then we have no right to blame others for our boredom–for the absence of productivity in our lives.

Some fear being visible. They believe change will make them suddenly stand out from the crowd. Often, these are people who believe that everyone is looking at just them all the time. They really consider themselves very special in a unique sort of way. Actually, most of us simply ignore most of us–and the embarrassed behavior of trying to stay less visible paradoxically draws attention to the person.

Some fear having to be responsible. It means one must seek mature behavior over childish ways. It makes demands. It requires growing up. It means one must consider others over self. What a threat to realize finally that adulthood has arrived. That throws panic into more than a few.

Some habitually send themselves negative messages in which the word “I” is always followed by the word “CAN’T.” They doubt their ability to cope. They are positive the stress level will be beyond that which they can handle. They are positive they are inadequate for whatever task might be assigned. They know they are unskilled, dumb, inept, incompetent, incapable.

Sometimes people need help to change. They don’t need judgmental accusations which point out their deficiencies. They need encouragement and support. They need instruction and affirmation. We can all help each other if we want to.

By the way… I think institutions are just like people, with all the same fears and doubts and misperceptions about what might happen if it changed. Safety is seductive–leaps into the unknown are stupid–but awareness of need, assessment of resources, skill in planning, provision for ownership, and artful communication can accomplish goals.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like