What Will You Give Up Today?
Shaking off the old and embracing the new.
Our reality is shaped in a big way by the environment we grow up in.
Certain things were acceptable, like littering or jay-walking. People get put in jail for that in other countries. When you become aware that you’ve lived a false reality, or that cleaner streets are actually more pleasant to live and walk in, you think about kicking that habit.
However, the years of psychological framing cannot be undone in just one day. With self-analysis and introspection, you realise but hang on, this is the right way to go. You slowly start to adjust your behaviour. It takes a conscious effort. You may get it right the first day but completely forget the next.
This is how it goes with almost everything. When everyone else is happy with a Receptionist or Janitor job, why should you break your back to go to college and become something better? When you visit home during the college breaks, you feel like you don’t belong there anymore. You’ve outgrown your environment. It is not a bad thing.
It becomes necessary for you to figure out how to deal with this new awareness and knowledge. We learn every day. You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable for a while as the new, healthier habits start to form.
It could be something as basic as your diet. When I was in college McDonald’s was cheap, convenient and accessible. It was a stone’s throw from campus and you would bump into a few friends while there.
As you start working and earning some money, you realise there are healthier alternatives. You make the decision to look after your body and limit or cut-out fast food and sugary drinks. Everything goes well.
Then you hit a slump. You run into some difficulty, you’re stressed out and depressed. You don’t have time to cook. I’ll just get McDonald’s. It still is cheap, convenient and accessible.
By falling back into bad habits, you deny yourself the right to become a better person. All the good work becomes undone. This is the same with smoking, alcohol, <insert your drug of choice here>.
Sometimes it is not that apparent. Being in a toxic relationship. Watching too much TV. Too much Social Media. But when you know better, you have to do better. You cannot fool yourself. Maybe others, but not yourself.
It’s sad because we sometimes walk around with a distorted reality we know is wrong and not serving us. But it is cheap, convenient and accessible.
Watch out for cheap, convenient and accessible.
Start today to live your best life. What will you give up today that you know will serve you better in the future?
The Parable of the Hole
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place, but it’s still not my fault. It still takes a long time getting out. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there, but I still fall in.
It’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
I walk down a different street. — Portia Nelson
