If you can change within yourself, then you can help others... You may have heard this before. You may have used this experience as an opportunity to empower another. You may be struggling to find this change within yourself. My writing today is inspired by another opportunity to facilitate insight, what happens as result of this process will be entirely up to your own availability to receive. If you can change within yourself, then you can help others... As I reflect on my own journey (the one that not everyone will understand) I am reminded of all of the lessons and learning that I have been afforded. I am also reminded that none of those opportunities would have (or could have) become a possibility unless I was able to receive them. It did not always come with ease, as resistance and avoidance will always show up when the message is not being met. I lived many years doing it my way, and although I was not entirely off course I was going with the stream, when I should of been going against this flow. If you can change within yourself, then you can help others...
The door towards my change within really opened for me through higher education. This may sound like that kind of endorsement that many others have sold through time. However, for myself the education that I was exposed to changed the quality of my life that I never expected going in to this endeavor. I chose education at the age of 25 because I wasn't satisfied with the way my life was playing itself out. There was no dream of a certain career when I began. All I knew at that moment was the idea that If I changed the quality of my life in a positive manner, I may just find my way. Well, I did as the key fit the lock and the doors (that for many years remained closed) finally began to turn the other direction.
As my lens changed and I was given the ability to make better choices, I was moving forward. Although the path would not save me from challenges and difficulty, slowly and surely I was changing within myself. When I moved into (and through) my MSW program I met awareness in a manner that I had not quite experienced before. The mirror was right in front of me, and I was a willing participant. The road towards acceptance and forgiveness allowed me to grasp the truest gift that I could receive. The change within had found its way in a manner that would effectively and competently allow me to help others help themselves...
Growth and learning will always be an available opportunity to us all. I have been very fortunate to receive many positive outcomes as a result of this empowering possibility. However, none of this is possible with out the want, belief and commitment. It's a road that will not be smooth, as those bumps along the way remind us that there is still plenty more to learn. Until the next time, may my words find you well out there, with choice and opportunity by your side...
About Author
Daniel Jacob, MSW Email
Founder of Can You Hear Me? Adjunct Lecturer and External Field Instructor at
University of Southern California School of Social Work | VAC. Daniel
has a Masters in Social Work (Families and Children Practice/School Social Work). He is
currently nearing the completion of the LCSW testing process as he continues to work towards progress! More about the man behind the mission ⇢
