The Possibility of Change

Several years ago I worked as a massage therapist in a Leadership Development Intensive program.  Massage therapy — plus business and individual counseling along with health and meditative techniques — was offered to participants, who in this case were executives from a large national insurance company.  The executives had been asked to bring their husbands, wives or partners, so they could better understand the growth — and possibly the change — that might take place during the week.  The leading facilitator was someone for whom I have the utmost respect — he is excellent at helping guide people as they navigate work and personal direction.  For this particular group, I was assigned the wife of one of the company directors.  She was to receive an hour of massage each day for three consecutive days.  On the first day, the man leading the Intensive met me at the door and whispered innocently in my ear as I walked into the room, “She’s a little resistant.”  The woman sat rigidly with her arms tightly crossed across her chest and stated defiantly, “No one’s touching me, that’s weird.”  I gave the facilitator a glare of betrayal as he smiled sweetly and left the room, closing the door behind him. She and I spent that day talking about massage therapy and she eventually allowed me to demonstrate some gentle movement techniques.  The following day she was more receptive and was comfortable with a shortened version of a massage.  On the third day, she met me at the door, threw her arms around me and hugged me, dragging me into the room to begin our session.  I will never forget witnessing her powerful transformation as she moved through those few days. Change is possible.  Always.