Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect will.
-Romans 12:2 New Living Translation-

Transformation is about becoming “brand new.” Transformation is about generating a new experience, results, and vision that are not based or justified on some historical precedent. It is about wondering, and to extravagantly imagine what is possible.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.
-Proverbs 29:18 King James Bible-

The path to discovering vision is to determine what you are most passionate about. What do you hope and long for? What is your current reality telling you? Where do you need to focus? If you want to drive to Chicago, but are currently in New York, but think you are in Los Angeles, you are going to have a very hard time getting to Chicago. Soren Kierkegaard wrote,” To see yourself is to die, to die to all illusions and all hypocrisy.” Feedback is an essential ingredient to transformational living and as I say frequently, "feedback is your friend." It is good to know your blind spots, because how else can we overcome them?

Forgiveness can be a way to clear a way for your vision. It can provide a means to let go of the past and free up emotional energy for your future. Unforgiveness can keep us stuck in our past. I think about Miss Havisham in Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations novel. She was jilted at the alter and insisted on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life and living in a ruined mansion.

“Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
-Saint Augustine-

Declaring a vision moves an impossibility into possibility. The Declaration of Independence gave humans unprecedented freedoms and did not exist until the leaders declared it.

Your commitment to your vision determines who you are and who you will become. It is perseverance that holds you to your commitment. “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions, and the actions which speak louder than words. It is making time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.” Shearson Lehman

These are a few steps to creating lasting transformation. I am not the same as I was at 18 or even yesterday. I believe change can happen for everyone and we all have a unique calling that can bless and change the world.

Marilyn Acton-Dowell, Licensed Professional Counselor and Transformational Life Coach