You can’t make me!

Let me tell you a story about an imaginary client of mine that I’ll call Waldo.

He had just been diagnosed with diabetes and was dealing with several other medical problems as well.

He came in the room angry and discouraged.  “I’m already on so many darned medicines now and my doctor says I have to go on another one for my diabetes.”

“I feel just awful. I used to drink when I felt this bad, but my doctor made me quit drinking 6 months ago when I found out I had liver problems. Now he’s even making me give up my favorite foods.”

I felt sorry for my client, but rather than just provide some words of comfort, I decided to play “the devil’s advocate.”

I asked, “So, did you stop drinking 6 months ago?”  Yes

“Did you stop because your doctor followed you to the grocery store and took the case of beer out of your cart before you checked out?”  No

“Did your doctor actually MAKE you stop drinking?” No

“Who decided to stop drinking?” I did.

“Why?”  I didn’t want to make my health even worse.

The moral of the story is this: Doctors do not make you do anything. We go to doctors because we want their help and their expertise. Whether we follow through on what they suggest is entirely up to us.

Do we want to feel better and keep our health from getting worse? Then we need to make some hard choices.  Whatever we decide, we must recognize it as our own decision. 

Because, it’s really true:  “You can’t MAKE me!”