It's easy to start over. It's hard to keep going.
How many times have you woke up thinking "today is the day. I'm ready for change and I'm committed to making it happen." In those moments, it is inconceivable that any obstacle would be powerful enough to slow you down. I know. I've had a lot of those mornings. What I'm keenly aware of is how easy it is to start over; start fresh; begin again. I'm equally as wise about how challenging that long road back can be.
For anyone who struggles with any issue that repeatedly drags them down, it can feel so discouraging to face the uphill battle again. I'm the first to say "if you think it will be hard, then it will be." There is lots of truth in that statement and I'm happy I've employed that thinking many times in my life. And I'd be kidding myself if I didn't admit that sometimes, it is feels harder when we've been down that road before.
I believe what makes it feel so difficult is the subtle awareness that we have indeed been here before; we have succeeded ... and by the fact that we are here again, failed. One of Martin Seligman "3 P's of a Pessimist" is permanence. Pessimists think that when something happens, it is permanent. As in, "I screwed that up last time so I'll never be able to do it." OR, "I'm such a failure at (fill in the blank) that I must be incapable of anything worthy." How limiting is that? None of us is completely lacking in talent or ability no matter how much we come up short in one particular area of our life. Imagine how many songs would never have been sung, stories never written, inventions never birthed, relationships never cemented, etc. if people had just stopped when things didn't work out the first time. And imagine what creative genius has never been revealed because someone gave up when the road back looked too long.
The road back may indeed be long but it's still there. You can take your time and meander back down the path or you can sprint your way to the finish line. If you are willing to learn as you go, you'll be able to build new tools into your experience and perhaps find that once you reach the end this time, you'll head off in a whole new direction.
How many times have you woke up thinking "today is the day. I'm ready for change and I'm committed to making it happen." In those moments, it is inconceivable that any obstacle would be powerful enough to slow you down. I know. I've had a lot of those mornings. What I'm keenly aware of is how easy it is to start over; start fresh; begin again. I'm equally as wise about how challenging that long road back can be.
For anyone who struggles with any issue that repeatedly drags them down, it can feel so discouraging to face the uphill battle again. I'm the first to say "if you think it will be hard, then it will be." There is lots of truth in that statement and I'm happy I've employed that thinking many times in my life. And I'd be kidding myself if I didn't admit that sometimes, it is feels harder when we've been down that road before.
I believe what makes it feel so difficult is the subtle awareness that we have indeed been here before; we have succeeded ... and by the fact that we are here again, failed. One of Martin Seligman "3 P's of a Pessimist" is permanence. Pessimists think that when something happens, it is permanent. As in, "I screwed that up last time so I'll never be able to do it." OR, "I'm such a failure at (fill in the blank) that I must be incapable of anything worthy." How limiting is that? None of us is completely lacking in talent or ability no matter how much we come up short in one particular area of our life. Imagine how many songs would never have been sung, stories never written, inventions never birthed, relationships never cemented, etc. if people had just stopped when things didn't work out the first time. And imagine what creative genius has never been revealed because someone gave up when the road back looked too long.
The road back may indeed be long but it's still there. You can take your time and meander back down the path or you can sprint your way to the finish line. If you are willing to learn as you go, you'll be able to build new tools into your experience and perhaps find that once you reach the end this time, you'll head off in a whole new direction.
