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Local Author Targets 'Change-Challenged' People
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Many people look at the beginning of the New Year as a chance to "get it right," but others spend January with their heads figuratively under the covers, hoping that the urge to change will vanish by months end. But what they gain in security, they lose in opportunity, says Nancy Christie, author of The Gifts of Change (Beyond Words Publishing, 2004). "Avoiding change doesn't keep you safe," she explained. "It actually makes you weak. Change is going to come, whether you want it or not. The trick is to be prepared by regularly exercising your 'change muscle'."Christie has also created a Web site-based Gifts of Change workbook. The individual worksheets include a "Change Challenge" to encourage people to commit to making one change in a 30-day period, she explains.To help change-phobics start small, she provides new "Make a Change" suggestions each month on her Web site. This month, it's drafting an obituary. "I first used this exercise in a creative writing class I was teaching and it was a big hit," Christie recalls. "Students were told to write their own obit from the standpoint of being at least 100 years old and living the life they always dreamed ofeven if it was totally unrelated to their 'real' life. Giving them permission to move beyond the bounds of reality in their imagination encourages them explore possibilities in reality. "What I want people to understand is that creating change in our lives is an empowering act," Christie emphasized. "When we explore new options or engage in new experiences, we are opening the door to possibilities we didn¹t even know existed. That's the true gift of change."Visit Christie's Web site: www.giftsofchange.com"