The problem with finding a good teacher, therapist, doctor, lawyer, (baker, or candle stick maker…the list is endless…but we shouldn’t forget spouses or long-term partners) is that they are few and far between. You need one with a sense of humor.
Most professionals (partners and spouses—or is the plural spice? Maybe it’s spice if you can have more than one in a marriage or if the one you have, has a sense of humor) don’t have a sense of humor (I’ll cover this point later), or they weren’t trained to think flexibly (by others like themselves) and/or if most clients, patients, or students don’t want to be challenged or to change (they just want to do the minimum or whine) those professionals don’t want to go against their traditional training and/or they don’t want to offend their charges. Or, in really evil situations, they don’t want to lose money.
The result of poor flexible training is that the recipients of that kind of damage learn to do the bare minimum, [teaching or listening or treating or going through the motions of professional life and having years of their charges’ energy and/or money go down the drain], with no effective changes to the situations presented.
I was very fortunate to have insisted upon creative direction in marriage counseling (which changed my life). I did that kind of creative therapy as a therapist and as a lawyer, and recently I found short-term advice gurus who give creative advice and directions (which if followed, work).
If you don’t follow the directions of the professional you choose for the purpose of a successful change, to better your situation (the only purpose that matters), it’s like going to a doctor for an infection and not taking the medication he/she prescribes—what do you think the result will be?
When seeking a professional, choose only a short-term therapist, advisor/guru, or a lawyer or a doctor who has a sense of humor. Here comes the point I promised to cover, professionals (and “spice” or long-term partners—we should never forget those groups) who have a sense of humor are creative so they can (and want to) think outside of the box, to find solutions.
I’ve been involved with the brightest professionals in my careers (and personal relationships, but that’s for another blog) who didn’t have a sense of humor and when it came to problem solving, for their patients or clients or students, their creativity was absent. They were unable to do anything but rely on their training and the books or research available to them.
When I asked: “How do you think new ideas became/become mainstream/acceptable/relied upon by other professionals, if not for thinking outside of the four corners of the books you were taught from or legislation or medical research now available to us?” the blank stares were chilling.
That led me to realize that in choosing a professional, one needs to beware of brightness only…even those who are first in their graduating classes can be humorless, creatively deficient dunces. And when you find that humorous, creative professional to help you, be sure to follow his or her directions or you may as well blow your time and money on snow cones and cotton candy. The results will be the same. The only upside is the memories will be sweeter.
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
