Change is Possible

"When the conscious mind cannot handle the truth it is spared the truth.  The unconscious mind comes to the emotional rescue."

If I were to give you an ultimatum, you either change or you die, what would your choice be?  It seems like a simple and rather easy choice, does it not?   How many of you would choose change?  Ask yourself, could you truly change when it mattered the most?

One might assume that 9 out of 10 individuals would choose to change rather than die, yet there is nothing farther from the truth.  The odds of you changing are 9 to 1, not for you but against you.

This is why a vast majority of the health care budget in most countries is consumed by a small percentage of the population who suffer from diseases that are well known and behavioural.  In some countries an estimated 80% of their health care budget is wasted on five behavioural issues.  It does not take a genius to figure out what those five issues are, and I am curious if you can guess what they are? (the answer is provided at the bottom).

Sticking with the theme of health, and the health care system I would like to bring up a problem that is currently plaguing our society; obesity.  The health risks associated with obesity are numerous, are well known to the public and yet there are many who are unable to make the changes in their life that are essential to their survival.

“If you look at people after coronary-artery bypass grafting two years later, ninety percent of them have not changed their lifestyle.  And that has been studied over and over and over again…..Even though they know they have a very bad disease and they know they should change their lifestyle, for whatever reason, they can’t.”  Dr Edward Miller, dean of the medical school and chief executive officer at John Hopkins University.  

Why is it that people who know they are staring death right in the face are unable to make the necessary changes in their lifestyle?  Perhaps it has to do with the conventional methods that we as humans use to bring about change; facts, fear, force.  Doctors will try to motivate their patients with the facts of a medical diagnosis that paint a bleak picture of their future, playing off the patient’s fear of dying, and will then rely on the force of their own professional authority in telling the patient what they should do.  One only needs to look around society to see that facts, fear and force do little to bring about change.  Our jails are full of proof that conventional methods are rather ineffective.


Our justice system attempts to deter people from committing crimes with long, punitive prison sentences.  Why is it than that 60-70% of criminals, and a staggering 90% of criminals charged with drug offences, reoffends within two years?  Many people may believe that these individuals are nothing more than a determent to society and are unfit for society yet those who constantly reoffend are more than often from impoverished communities and families.  They are stuck within a vicious cycle where they are led to believe that there is no other opportunity for them in this world and they resort to the only lifestyle they know of; crime.  

"Essentially it's become a question of where do we want to be going over the course of the next generation. Do we want to be building prisons or creating opportunities for education for our children?"

We know that by breaking the law there is the possibility of ending up locked in a 6 x 8 cell, although the numbers suggest that punishment does little to deter people from committing crimes.  The mental mind frames installed by generations of poverty, addiction and crime leave people little to no understand of what constitutes a law abiding and sober lifestyle.  Most criminals lack the skills and knowledge to that is required of them to survive in the working world because.  They are nothing more than a product of their environment, one those in the middle and upper class would rather ignore than admit that exists.  What good is an education and life skills in culture where violence is a part of daily life and a prison sentence is nothing more than a sign of “street cred”.  


I have presented to you two major problems that plague most societies today, although obesity is only a problem in the predominantly wealthy countries of the world.  We need to abandon our conventional methodology of facts, fear and force for new age methods with proven results.  You may think that we as humans are incapable of change and that we are so infatuated with our current lifestyles that we are unable to bring about positive change.  That type of mentality is what plagues human civilization and the faster we can eradicate these ignorant mental mind frames the better.  The key to change is found in three R’s; relate, repeat, reframe.  

Dr. Ornish was not satisfied with the state of the medical field while he was working alongside one of the most famous hear surgeons in history, Dr. Michael DeBakey.  Dr. Ornish began studying alternatives to what was offered to patients in the 80’s and over time perfected a system that not only produced astonishing results, but was remarkably cheaper.  Dr. Ornish created a program that changed a patient’s lifestyle and enabled a person to create the changes that they needed to better their physical and mental health.  He did so through a strict vegetarian/vegan diet, yoga, exercise and group therapy.  Dr. Ornish continued to follow progress of his earliest participants and found that 99% had stopped or revered the progress of their heart disease, while 77% the participants has so drastically changed their lifestyles that they no longer required heart surgery.  The program in which Dr. Ornish created only costs $7,000 per patient where as the average bypass surgery costs $41,000.  The numbers are somewhat astonishing and his system has become such a success that Medicare (the US federal government’s health insurer) voted in 2005 to cover the costs of the program.

Dr. Ornish’s program uses the three R’s to help his patient achieve their goals.  
By relating their experiences with a team of experts (a trainer, a yogi, a chef and a psychologist) as well as others who are going through he very same experience a community is created where individuals all strive for a common goal while helping one another.
Through repetition each patient given the opportunity to learn, practice and master a way of living that enables them to become healthy not only mentally but physically as well.
By reframing the mind you allow patients to take responsibility for their own health by creating a lifestyle that enables and empowers them rather than relying on surgery and pills to cure them.

Some people may believe that most criminals are incapable of reforming themselves, although Delancey Street Foundation is hard at work to prove such notions are inaccurate.  With what started out as a 400,000 sq. foot complex on the waterfront in San Francisco has turned into the most innovative rehabilitation facilities and they accomplished such a feat with no staff, no government funding, and no professionals.  Everyone said it could not be done.  For 35 years the Delancey Street Foundation has been taking in the worst that society has to offer and has implemented somewhat of a mentorship program that allows its participants to earn an education, learn life and marketable skills so they can lead a productive, drug free life with purpose.  Their rules are simple no drugs or alcohol, no physical violence, and no threats of violence. How can all this be all this be accomplished with no staff, professionals or government funding?  The whole place is run by the residents themselves. All money is funneled into the community, and each resident receives food, housing, clothing, education, entertainment and all other services at no cost.  The costs of the program are covered by the profits made by 12 successful businesses that employ the residents.

The Delancey Street Foundation also uses the three R’s.  
By using the veterans of the program as a model of change, they are able to relate to new participants that change is not only possible but it is attainable.  Delancey offers a person the opportunity to create new relationships and forces people to become responsible for their actions and attitudes.
Through a mandatory two year program, although the average stay is four years, the participants are provided with daily training so they can assimilate into society.
By reframing the mind of a criminal into that of a “middle class mind” it allows a person to break the cycle that leaves most trapped within the justice system.


Change is possible.  We simply need to look beyond conventional methods and wisdom for revolutionary methods that will bring people together to help one another in their struggles.