I wish I could say that I experienced a magical transformation but it wasn’t true. However, Dr. Simon’sment was insidious8. It kepting up in my mind over the next few weeks. Again and again, as I heard myself bl***ng my father for this or that, a little internal voice said, “Okay, suppose your father is all those bad things you said. How long do you think you can get away with bl***ng him for your life?”
Slowly, inexorably9, my thinking shifted. I heard myself bl***ng a lot. After a while, I realized that I had created a life in which I was not a central figure!I was the object of the action, not the subject. That felt even more ufortable than any feeling I had in Dr. Simon’s class. I didn’t want to be a puppet. I wanted to be an actor, not a re-actor. The process of growth wasn’t easy or fast. It took over a year before people noticed that I was taking responsibility for my own actions, my own choices, my own feelings. I was surprised at how my grades improved in all my subjects. I was astounded at the increase in the number—and quality—of my