Did you ever force yourself to do something very difficult because you knew that ultimately, it was the right thing to do? I have. I won't say what it was I did, but I will tell you that right after you do it you get the feeling that you have bit off more than you can chew, and you scramble to make more changes to make your original act work.
From experience, I'll tell you that the complexity of doing the right thing, grows in proportion to the time you have spent doing the wrong thing. I can think of a few simple examples that don't pertain to what is bothering me this morning, but that will allow you to see what I am angling at. Think of the last time you got lost. There comes a point in the trip where you realize that you made a mistake. At that point, did you turn around until you reached the place where you actually made the mistake? Or did you just plow ahead, figuring you would make a new short cut? Well, I just did this one! I was heading to Nashua following directions from Map Quest. I was looking for a specific road and as I was driving, a sign at the side of the road said junction 113 next left. Well, I made the next left and the road looked like an old farm road. My daughter and I both recognized that it didn't seem right, yet I kept plowing along anyway, figuring that I would hit a cross street that would link up with the road I wanted to be on. I mean, come on, the road was supposedly running parallel with where I wanted to go anyway! To make a long story short, the road took me nearly all the way back to where I started from. I ended up adding thirty minutes to my trip going back to the way I usually went to Nashua. The short cut Map Quest promised, actually made my trip longer! There are two ways to look at my mistake. 1. My mistake was looking for a shorter way to go, when I already knew a route that would accomplish my goal. This is the wrong way of looking at it. Man is always looking for short cuts to make his life simpler and save time. Think about the time we save by using cars versus walking? The second way is the correct way to look at my mistake. 2. My mistake was that after realizing that I made a mistake (withing the first 45 seconds of being on the road), I didn't turn around right away and correct it. If I had turned around and looked for the proper turn, I likely would have found it and saved myself 30 minutes. Did I get to my destination? Yes. Did it take me longer than it would have if I had turned around? Yes. The moral here is that pride goeth before a fall. Okay, that was a simple example of what I was talking about. The more I refused to deal with the error I made, the longer it took me to actually get where I wanted to go. This example is not as life altering as what is actually bothering me, though. Here is a better example, yet also not the "thing" I am speaking of. For years I lived an unhealthy life style. I drank heavily, overate and smoked cigars. Deep down, I knew these "choices" were unhealthy, and yet I kept doing them anyway. At one point, I weighed nearly 300 pounds. I gave up drinking in 1999 and smoking cigars in 2003. I started working out in 2006 and watching what I eat in 2010. My weight is now back to the mid 240's, but my goal is 200 pounds, about what I weighed in high school. The sad part is that I realized I was making bad decisions when I was back in college, and yet my response was a half-hearted vow to improve when I was older. The truth of the matter is that the struggle to get back into shape seems to be in direct proportion to the amount of time that I was making bad choices. I drank for a little over twenty years before giving it up. Sixteen years later, I still have a "beer" gut. Sadly (in one sense anyway), I realize now as I near fifty that I am in better shape now, than I was when I was in my early twenties. While that is a good thing, it also points to how far astray I was from a healthy lifestyle back then. Was it hard getting back into shape in my mid 40's? Yes, but it is also rewarding.When you do a hard thing, and it is also the right thing, good things cascade from your decision. My decision to start taking karate with my daughter (which I did for a reason other than to get back into shape) has been a life changer for me. I am in better shape, I have started to make healthier choices in regards to what I eat, it is great stress relief, and I have made a number of very good friends. Sometimes, the hardest thing IS the right thing! My advice: If you have something in front of you that you know is right, but you are afraid to start it because it is hard...start it anyway. I am not moralizing here. I just know from experience that problems just don't go away on their own. In fact, they grow in direct proportion to the amount of time that you ignore them. What is hard for you today, will be harder for you tomorrow after the problem gets larger. Make a habit of doing the right thing now, and you will find that doing the right thing always will be easier for you tomorrow.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
September 2021
Categories
All
|