The Next Step is Up To You
I find myself standing at crossroads every now and then. I only become aware that this is where I am because I have to make a decision that will result in change. The direction my life is going is about to shift. Change usually means I am feeling something. Change can be exciting, scary or even a relief. Maybe I have been working towards this. And it has felt for an age that I'm going nowhere. I am motivated to grow and become more integrated and less reactive in my life. I know that if I want something I haven't got, I have to do something I haven't done. So, although you may have the courage to take a different path when the crossroad appears, whether you will actually start to walk along that unfamiliar path could well come down to habit.
Most of us live our lives quite unconsciously. It makes our daily existence manageable, predictable, familiar and if ingrained enough, we can even go so far as to describe them as who we are. For example, we might describe ourselves as a smoker, or as a night owl or as a coffee addict. We can pin parts of ourselves on those culturally acceptable hooks and other people respond with, Ah yes, me too. We belong and if you want to give that habit up, then what will fill the void. If I stop being that, who am I?
Habits are the software program that runs in our minds background. Automatic and not always helpful. But habits are malleable and with a little bit of self-discipline and consistency, they can be dropped and new conscious habits that serve us can be installed. Old hard drives need to be cleared sometimes, as that outdated data can slow your system down.
Habits are often formed from behaviours that we learned from others. If our peers smoked at an impressionable age, we might have picked it up. Habits such as when we start our day, what we do once we're awake, how we spend our time, what we eat and where and when. When we have our first drink of the day and the route we drive, the clothes we chose. Everything we do consistently with minimal thought and with the resultant sensation that this is who I am. This is all perfectly fine, until you come to the crossroad.
Then the opportunity to really examine what you do so that you can do something else, are the actual steps you take on the new path.
If you want to change your life, look at what you do and chose to do something more aligned with the person you want to become. Do you have any habits that you would like to consciously replace so that you can feel more inspired? It only takes 30 days.
Saren Dobkins
mindthismoment@gmail.com
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