Tag: change

The Impact of Gradual Change

Ann Malmberg 1 Comment

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I recently read a (fictional) book about a woman, Alice, who takes a fall at the gym and bumps her head. After a series of comical and confusion-filled interactions, she eventually figures out that she has completely forgotten the last ten years of her life. In her head, she’s 30 years old, happily married to the love of her life, and expecting her first child. In reality, she’s getting ready to celebrate the big 4-0, has three children, and is going through a hostile divorce. I’m sure you can imagine the hilarity—and awkwardness—that ensues.

The main storyline of the book revolves around Alice’s inability to reconcile the present-day state of her marriage with the one from ten years ago, which she believes is the present. What could have possibly happened in the past ten years to make them fall out of love with each other? Read More

I am a Recovering Complainer

Laura Praske Leave a comment

house

 

I am a recovering complainer.

We were having a picnic lunch on a beautiful May afternoon.  There were three moms and four children.  While the children played, the moms talked. I remember talking about my house.  Actually, I did a lot of talking about my house.  I had a lot of complaints.  I live in a 117-year-old house that, by default, we are fixing up.  It is one problem after another. Not only did I complain about all there is to fix, but I also complained about the layout, the size of the rooms, the lack of closets, the location of the bathrooms, the lack of air conditioning…  I’ll stop there.  The picnic ended.  We parted ways.

Not long after the picnic, one of the three moms invited all of us over to her house. I parked in front and my daughter and I followed the sidewalk to the back of the house where there was a tiny backyard.  We greeted each other and were given a tour of the house.  I thought my house had small rooms.  I thought my house had problems.  Her living room was smaller than our office. There was one bedroom for four people, and it was smaller than my bedroom.  The floor was uneven.  It was dark.  It was crowded.  I was embarrassed.  I had complained about my house and here she lived in a smaller, more run down home than I did.  I felt terrible.  Read More

The Right Foot

Ann Malmberg 1 Comment

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Why do we make New Year’s resolutions? Why not “Third Saturday in July resolutions” or “Birthday resolutions”? Perhaps it is because the beginning of a new calendar year offers a clean slate and the opportunity to literally start the year off on the right foot, in hopes that we will set a precedent that will carry through the remaining 364 days of the year.

Using this logic, we begin to understand that starting something on the right foot can set off positive reverberations that help drive us to success. Read More

Have you made a CHANGE yet this year?

Ann Malmberg 15 Comments

As you know, PREPARE/ENRICH is celebrating its 35th Anniversary, but perhaps you are a marking a milestone anniversary this year as well. Anniversaries are times to not only celebrate and reflect on how far you’ve come over the years, but also to establish hopes, goals, and resolutions for the year to come.

The CHANGE Model can help you develop an action plan for your relationship goals with six easy steps: Read More