Beth's Ponderings
We are now a whole
month into the new year. How’s it going
for you so far? Better than last
year? Worse? The same old, same old grind?
We, humans, have
this idea that every once in a while we need to make a big grand sweeping
change in our lives. We decide that the
only way things will be different is if we do some big overhaul.
But...we, humans,
also resist change at every turn, especially big changes that challenge our
comfort zones and all that we hold familiar.
All to soon, after some attempt to massively change every aspect and
corner of our being, we tend to revert back to the way we were before the
change, and we become even more rigidly attached to that familiar state.
Until the next time
we read, view, or hear something that inspires us to completely transform our
lives.
Repeat...year after
year after year…
Now, I’m not saying
that change is bad, or that we all don’t have a habit or two (or more) that we
want to change, or that our lives can’t do with some tweaking from time to
time, but the way to bring about that change isn’t with an all-or-nothing, all-out
approach.
Rather, the most
lasting, and meaningful, changes start with teeny tiny baby steps. Steps that are so small that they seem almost
ridiculous and pointless.
And, yes, they do
seem ridiculous, which is exactly why they work.
It is very easy for
us to feel overwhelmed and give up, usually at the worst possible time, but at
the same time is very easy for us to fool ourselves when we don’t think we are
putting out much effort.
And doing one teeny
tiny baby step forward often leads to larger steps as we realize how easy the
baby step was, and momentum builds.
“You don't take the
baby steps for the distance they cover, but to put yourself in reach of life's
magic...you don't hoist your sails on the sailboat to move the boat, but to
catch the wind that will move the boat.” - Mike Dooley
Beth
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua24/home/February%202%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
