Change.
Not something we can all easily embrace. For some of us this word causes anxiety and fear, for others excitement and joy. Sometimes both. But no matter how we feel about change, we know it is an important process.
Without change, a seed could never become a plant, a caterpillar could never transform into a butterfly and we could never be more than the sum of our parts. Each change in our life is necessary, like our growth from adolescence to adulthood. Without these essential and very crucial changes, we will not become the individuals we are today. This can be either good or bad depending on the influential factors.
It’s true that there are changes we don’t always choose. Drastic life events such as an accident, a, financial loss, natural disaster or a death in the family can have dramatically negative impacts on our lives, for better or for worse. Though, here at Let’s Veg About It we try to look at the glass half full. We want to focus on the changes that we have control of. A life lived entirely as a passenger is a life barely lived.
The greatest changes in our lives that we participate directly in revolve around self-control. We all have the ability to choose what emotions, behavior, habits and thoughts we entertain. This is one of the things that makes us different from the animals and plants. Not necessarily better, but different. Our brain has the ability to think about moral decisions, weigh difficult choices and consider a process of self-improvement. Matter of fact, the ability to think about thinking is, so far as I have read, unique to humans.
Some may argue, “But this person really makes me mad.”Or “You have no idea how hard it is to change my habits.” Of course, we all encounter difficult people and fight difficult habits. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of difficult people and bad habits to deal with, but the path to change is under your control, but I want to tell you that Neil Sedaka (pictured above) was right. Breaking up is hard to do.
Changing our habits and routines is very hard. As a species, we tend to prefer a structured schedule for time and habits naturally grow out of our need for control over our circumstances. We tend to resist any change to this safe space we construct, but it’s hard to get any clear perspective on the healthiness of our routine from within the system. When we can objectively look at these things and make changes to improve our life we come into conflict with our desires and this is why breaking up is hard to do.
Each purposeful decision made for the better, strengthens our ability to make better decisions in the future. I have heard quite a few doctors and neurologists say that making good decisions is like working a mental muscle.
It hurts when the body is exercised. It actually tears the fibers of your muscle, but when it heals over, the muscle is stronger and ready to handle even greater stresses. The process repeats itself ad infinitum until you are satisfied with the condition of the body.
This kind of change rarely happens overnight. There is no miracle pill to take to instantly fix your problems. In reality the pill you have to swallow is a bitter one, but the difficulty in reaching your goal is what makes it worthwhile, isn’t it? The trick is focusing on the matters immediately at hand, not how far you are from your goal. Every day is a process towards positive changes for your mental and physical health. Keep striving.
Peace,
Pearl