Amada Rosa Pérez was a famous Colombian actress and model in the early 2000’s. She was the model[1] of all young aspiring models. Money, expensive clothes, exotic photo shoot locations, fame, attention: everything a young model could want. She was at the top of her profession. Her career was a dream come true.
But in 2005, she disappeared.
Speculators went crazy. After all, Colombia is notorious for drug lords, crime, kidnappings, and FARC rebels. But the truth – as is often the case – was far more interesting than the speculation. She resurfaced five years later a completely different woman. She announced that she’d been born again and had dedicated her life to God. She went on to say she had been diagnosed with a disease that caused her to lose 60% of her hearing in her left ear. It really shook her, and she started questioning her lifestyle. “I felt disappointed, unsatisfied, directionless, submerged in fleeting pleasures… I sought answers, but the world never gave them to me,” she said.[2]
She suddenly quit modeling and never worked in the industry again. Instead, she said that she had dedicated her life to working with the poor communities in Colombia. She said that her definition of modeling had changed:
“Being a model means being a benchmark, someone whose beliefs are worthy of being imitated, and I grew tired of being a model of superficiality. I grew tired to a world of lies, appearances, falsity, hypocrisy, and deception; a society full of anti-values that exults violence, adultery, drugs, alcohol, fighting, and a world that exults riches, pleasure, sexual immorality and fraud. I want to be a model that promotes the true dignity of women instead of being used for commercial purposes.”
If that isn’t a change of definition, I don’t know what is.
Prior to her ‘come to Jesus’ moment, she said she was always stressed out and would get upset over minor things. “Now I live in peace,” she said. “The world doesn’t appeal to me. I enjoy every moment God gives me.”
Truly amazing.
Why Change Happens
Lots of people think change takes a long time. It doesn’t. These people are well-meaning but misguided. When people say change takes a long time what they mean to say is that it takes a long time to get to the point where you know you need to change. That can take a long time, but the actual change itself happens in the blink of an eye. I’ve seen it thousands of times throughout my career. No matter the number of unique circumstances, it’s been my experience that how change happens follows a relatively straightforward path:
My situation was bad in the past.
It’s terrible now.
It’ll be unbearable in the future.
I’M DONE WITH THIS NONSENSE.
And that, my friends, is how we change (I’ll explain why we change below). Simple right? Don’t confuse simplicity with ease.[3] The heavy lifting happens prior to the actual change. It happens when we begin to straighten ourselves out. When we decide to get our thinking right. When we accept the truth about ourselves and our situation.[4] When we accept personal responsibility for where we find ourselves in life. My client Aaron did just that.
Aaron
When Aaron first started seeing me, he was a mess. A highly intelligent, 25-year-old, gentle giant of a man who was very depressed, severely overweight, and jobless. He had good reason to be this way. Since middle school he’d had a nagging sense of depression. In late 2019 he decided to fix it and began seeing a counselor. She was helpful. After several sessions things were starting to look up. He enjoyed visiting with her. Things were starting to making sense. Then without warning or explanation,
She terminated services with him.
It completely torpedoed him. Try as he might, he couldn’t figure out why she cut him loose. Trying to find an explanation took over every waking minute of his day.[5] He became obsessed with it and nothing else mattered. What seemed doable days before now felt as impossible as free-climbing El Capitan.[6] In short order his life fell apart.
He fell into a deep depression. He had a good job, but kept calling in sick so he got fired. He lost his apartment and had to move back in with his parents. His father would yell, scream, and berate him. The house was so small he ended up living in their garage. He put on 160 lbs. He felt like God abandoned him so he stopped going to church. He had few friends. Before long, his savings had been completely depleted and he was living on nothing. He became disillusioned with life – bitter and resentful about the past, pessimistic and cynical about the future. He’d lost motivation to live and withdrew further and further from real life. By the time he darkened my office door he’d let 2 and a half years pass, was in terrible physical health, and 90% of his life was lived late at night on Quora.[7] To put it mildly, he was in really bad shape.
Dr. Irvin Yalom is a brilliant psychiatrist who has shaped much of how I do counseling. He wrote,
“Sometimes I feel like a guide, walking around in another person's house, introducing them to rooms in their own home they never knew existed.”
That’s what happened with Aaron. Session after session I would introduce him to rooms in his own life he never knew existed (or perhaps knew they existed, but had stubbornly refused to open the door and look inside). Sometimes our sessions got heated, as struggles with the structure of reality often do, but I never stopped caring about him, and he never gave up. In order for a person to really know the worth of truth they must fight it out. The truth will set you free, but the manner in which it accomplishes this is a process of burning. To know the truth, you must endure the flames of refinement.
I encouraged him to start living his life in a conscious way and stop drifting through it in a meaningless way. I encouraged him to embrace the truth. And that’s exactly what he did.
Sometimes, much of who we are is immature nonsense. It’s very destabilizing to experience yourself as such a fractured individual that much of what you say isn’t an accurate reflection of reality.[8] There are attributes about ourselves that aren’t worthy to be part of us. The truth is the enemy of these unworthy attributes. They cannot coexist. When you embrace truth, it means you give up on keeping hold of attributes that aren’t worthy to be you. A man cannot serve two masters.
Much of who Aaron was had to be burned away. It was painful, but he did it. He got back in the gym. He lost a lot of weight. He got a good job. Most importantly, he gave up on making sense of the counseling debacle that sent him spiraling. He gave up on his “right to be right,” as he aptly put it. Willingly placing himself into the fire, he was freed by the flames of truth.
I find a striking similarity between the process of therapy and the idea found in Revelation 3:20:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Opening a door to the Divine can save your soul. Opening a door to a therapist can save your sanity. But no one is going to kick your door down. No one is going to rescue you against your will. No one will drag you into a better place kicking and screaming. You have to open the door.
So why do we change? People change because they find a big enough reason why. Amada found her reason why. Aaron molded his reason why from the ashes of his past.
What’s your why?
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[1] Pun intended! I’m so clever. I crack me up.
[2] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/19777/former-colombian-model-shares-conversion-story
[3] Another common mistake along the same lines – especially made by mothers of young children – is confusing busyness with productivity.
[4] Famous psychologist C.G. Jung said, “That which you most need to find will be found where you least want to look.” Accepting deep truths about ourselves often requires us to go to places we don’t want to go – dark places. We have to accept the depth of our own sinfulness. That’s a very difficult task, and many do not possess the prerequisite resilience to venture into the darkness.
[5] Intelligent people often fixate on things. They’re smart so they’re used to figuring things out. When they can’t, it’s like a splinter in their mind they can’t leave alone.
[6] Free-climbing is a way of climbing using only your hands and feet – no rope. El Capitan is a 3,000-foot-tall granite mountain in Yosemite National Park. In 2018, Alex Honnold became the only person to have accomplished this death-defying feat.
[7] Quora is an internet forum with chat rooms on everything from Ukrainian geopolitics to sea turtle mating rituals. They describe themselves as, “a place to share knowledge and better understand the world.”
[8] This idea is taken from the following excellent lecture entitled, A Heaven Worth Striving For: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_zjdmkou0Q&t=4s.
This colder weather has most of us snuggling in to stay warm. It makes it harder to spend time outdoors being active, so many of us are forced to stop for a moment and ponder. I hope that as you take time during this slower time of year to reflect on your life that you will look around yourself to the people you are helping. To all of you who have partnered with us, whether that be over a number of years, or as a newer partner, we take this time to stop to remember our blessings – and those blessings include YOU!
We are so honored to receive your generous gift, Church at Coffee Creek! To the anonymous donor who designated this gift, we say thanks and pray God’s many blessings in your life!
Thank you, McGraw Family Foundation, for your generous annual gift and commitment toward our mission. We are overwhelmed by your generous heart to join with us to help as many people as we can.
We express our sincere thanks to Devyn Horsley for your heart for helping those in need. It is an honor to partner with you to impact generations.
Thank you to Jason & Val Schram for your continued support of our work. You are making a difference in the lives of our clients and we are grateful to have you on our team of partners.
We are so grateful to Lance Pollard for your gifts to help those who would otherwise be unable to afford to seek help. Your heart for others is evident. Thank you for partnering with us.
Mary Cairns and Brittany Taylor – we say THANKS for your Facebook fundraisers to give back to your community. We are so grateful for your support!
Thank you to Shelly Schuman for your generous first-time gift. Your support provides stability to our mission and hope to our clients.
We offer our thanks to Tom Ross for your recent donation. Thanks for continuing to support our mission.
To all of our faithful monthly and recurring supporters — THANK YOU from our Peace Partnership team! – Stone AMP SEO, Jeff & Lacey Cherry, Zane & Melissa Morerod, Jondy & Heather Britton, Matt & Kristy Newton, Clayton & Pam Wooldridge, Mark & Cathy McGaughey, Greg & Jennifer Spears, Roger & Jennifer Madsen, Brent & Amanda Miller, Mike & Jan McGraw, Willie & Adia Valdes, Linda Hartman, Dave & Rosie Bourland, Rudy & Stacy Blahnik, Mike & Tracy Pruitt, Sandra King, Diane Smith, Dan & Gigi Rippee, Andre & Rose Fantasma, Kevin Quinn, Scott & Lydia Hurley, Jon & Naomi Thompson, John & Keshia Otradovec, Tamara Stroud, Rick & Kathy Daulton, Church at Coffee Creek, John & Vicki Hefner, Cory & Leslie Young, Jenny Glasgow, Teddy Koehler, Brandon & Vanessa Blanchard, and Rick & Jan Britton.
We appreciate each and every one of you!
Are there ways that you can help us grow? Contact our Director of Development, Naomi Thompson, at: 816.272.0653 or naomi@peacecounseling.org to find out how you can join our team of Partners. To make a donation through our website, please click on the link below.
Presented by Con Carpet Tile + Design
Thursday, September 21, 2023 @ 7:30am
Adams Pointe Golf Club, 1601 RD Mize Rd, Blue Springs, MO
REGISTRATION & SPONSORSHIPS ARE OPEN!
Who’s ready for some golf weather? I know we are! Sponsorships and registrations open TODAY! Go ahead and get your teams together, sign your company up for a sponsorship, and block the date on your calendar. All golf proceeds help provide affordable counseling to the families in our community. As a bonus, you know you’ll get an amazing lunch from Zarda and a killer swag bag!
REGISTRATION:
Team Registration – 4 Person ($700)
Individual Team Registration ($175): Playing on a team but paying fees individually.
Individual Player Registration ($200): Individual golfer, not yet on a team. Will be placed on a team prior to event.
SPONSORSHIP LEVELS:
Presenting Sponsor ($15,000): Prominent logo placement on all event materials, welcome banner, and stand-alone sponsor banner; name included as presenter on all written materials; logo placed on gift bag; private speaking engagement with Dr. Jon Thompson; 2 foursomes included
Platinum Sponsor ($10,000): Prominent logo placement on all event materials & signage; exclusive logoed golfer gift item; 2 foursomes included
Gold Sponsor ($5,000): Exclusive logoed golfer gift item; prominent signage at event & logo on website; 1 foursome included
Silver Sponsor ($3,000): Logo placed on souvenir gift bag; logo on sponsor banner & website; 1 foursome included
Cart Sponsor ($1,000): Logo included on both beverage carts (2), cart corral area, and on sponsor banner
Premium Hole Sponsor ($250): Sign with logo at designated hole; option to handout giveaways at hole; ability to include promotional item in gift bag
To contact our Director of Development, Naomi Thompson, call: 816.272.0653 or email: naomi@peacecounseling.org.
Have you or someone you know been helped by Peace Partnership or Genesis Counseling? If so, would you please consider paying it forward to help another find healing along their journey? We are asking anyone who is not currently partnering with us financially to consider donating $100/year for the next 3 years to help make a difference in someone else’s life. Collectively, we can help SO MANY PEOPLE! Please consider a gift today. Call the office for help getting your gift set up or choose a recurring donation on our website here. We are so grateful for your help changing lives!
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