Christian Counseling - The Perils of Moving

My family is moving this month. While the move will be good for us, the thought of packing up all of our accumulated "stuff" is difficult to say the least. You see, I hate moving. Yes, hate is a strong word but the appropriate one in this case. In fact, moving either myself or helping others move is one of my least favorite activities somewhere near root canal or being forced to sit through a marathon of the "Saw" movies.

However, this process we are going through is not unlike some people's experience of therapy. In order to move from one house to another, we have to go through the years of belongings often throwing things away that we need to leave behind. The older we are and the longer we have lived in one place, the more work this entails. Even though the destination can be exciting, often we think long and hard about whether we want to go forward. No matter how much we think about it before hand, moving is much more difficult that we first imagined and filled with surprises both good and bad. For younger people who have not accumulated as much in terms of things or relationships, moving can be easier. For my 6-year-old daughter, she is excited to "get on with my new life".

For those of you who have been through therapy, you can probably easily see the parallel. Therapy requires counting the cost of moving forward, going through the many emotional "possessions" we have accumulated over the years, and can be discouraging as we go through the process. As we proceed through therapy, we must always be mindful of the destination that awaits us. While where we are may in some way be comfortable, it is not where we can experience the greatest heights and depths of life. As we embark on our physical move, I wish those of you godspeed who have started an emotional move of your own.