If you've ever studied about rocks, you know there are three kinds that make up the earth's crust:  igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.  Igneous rock is made by the cooling of magma or lava.  It is in molten form underground until it finds a break in the earth's crust and spews forth, quickly cooled by the air and forming into granite, basalt or pumice.  Sedimentary rock is gravel, sand, clay or soil that settles out of water in rivers, ponds, lakes or oceans, and forms in layers after many years of great pressure.  It then becomes limestone, sandstone, or shale.  Metamorphic rock has been through a process much like baking   Great pressure and intense heat deep in the earth changes sedimentary rock into marble, quartzite and gneiss. 

People are like rocks.  There are some that are born very strong.  They survive in life by finding weak spots and pushing their way through, forcing people to make way for them.  Then there are some that flow along where life takes them, and land wherever they are dropped.  They are very fragile and breakable.  They give in to the pressures of life and allow themselves to be formed into the mold life creates for them.  But a few of those people who are exposed to great pressure, for whatever reason, break free and undergo a great metamorphosis, and it is those that become something great. 

While igneous rock is born hot, sedimentary rock is born cold, and this tends to be true of people too.   The vast majority of people are sedimentary.  They take whatever life throws at them and choose to do nothing, mostly because they don't believe they can or should do anything, don't know what to do, or don't feel capable of doing anything.  A few years back, much study ws done on inborn temperament, and three categories of infant temperaments were discovered.  These were labeled easy, difficult, and slow-to-warm-up.  The easy youngsters would roughly correspond to the sedimentary rock.  They conform to whatever parents want, are easy to direct and discipline, and generally are no trouble to anyone.  Igneous rock would correspond most nearly to the difficult temperament.  They are born with strong emotions and don't let anyone push them around.  The slow-to-warm-up youngsters are the ones witha lot of fear-based beliefs.  Believe it or not, the strong-willed child is the most likely to embrace positive change.

In the studies, however, there was one other category of temperaments:  unclassifiable.  In other words, from the very begining, these individuals did not fit into any classification system.  Approximately 65% of all people can be classified, with one of the three temperament styles, with about 40% classified as easy, 10% as difficult and 15% as slow-to-warm-up.  This means 35% are unclassifiable. 

Which of these groups do you feel a metamorphosis is most likely to come from?  and Why?

Studies seem to show that difficult children can become easy children if PARENTS:

-          are psychologically healthy

-          have a good marriage

-          have high self-esteem

-          harmonious relationship with their babies

-          satisfied with their role

However, it is important to realize that NO ONE CHANGES UNLESS THEY WANT TO.

Parents must realize that you cannot change a child's temperament, and that punishment or other disciplinary tools do not cause a child to change for the better.  Providing a supportive environment so that people can discover who they are and develop healthy self-esteem is the only basis for positive change.

It's also interesting to note that some temperament characteristics seem to be linked to ethnicity.  In studies where babies were exposed to a loud noise,

-            Caucasian American cries, arches back, fusses

    -          Irish reacts less strongly

    -          Chinese reacts even less strongly

    -          Navajo remains quiet

These differences can be due to genetic tendencies, but also to hormonal influences during pregnancy, influenced by the way mothers are conditioned to respond in different cultures, how they respond to stress, etc. 

No matter which group you belong to, the question is this:   are you going to choose to just go with the flow of life, or are you going to choose metamorphosis?