Just Reading and Listening

Today is January 2nd. For many, it is the second day of life changing goals and for many more, it is the second day of all the fluff they have told themselves. This isn’t about that. We make our own paths and really, none of us should judge the decisions, or lack thereof. This is the second day of 365 that create the calendar year but if you really want to change there is not a need to be boxed in by twelve sheets of paper.

Day one, you decide to make the change. That sounds great. I had the opportunity to listen to a podcast the other day which puts the word decide in a completely new light. Here is the riddle: If five frogs are sitting on a lily pad and one decides to jump off how many frogs are left sitting on the lily pad? The answer appears so simple because when we think about deciding we think that means we are doing it. The actual answer is five. You see, deciding to do something and doing it are two different things. If you decide to lose weight, it means that you have had a thought, discussion, contemplation, and a mental desire to make that happen. The actual work and start of the process begins the first day you alter your eating habits.

Another thing I just finished was the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. It started a little slow but that only built the story. The main premise of the book is that it takes time for changes to be seen, whether they are good or bad changes. That is why it is so hard to make changes for the positive throughout our lives. We don’t see the change for a long time, so we must decide whether we keep going or just quit. There is an adage that states, “A person is not a static being. We are either getting better or worse every day.” The Slight Edge says that the small positive decisions we make everyday compound upon one another to make the change permanent or create a better situation for us. The same thing happens if we make small bad decisions each day. There is a part in the book that says something to the effect that having the fast food burger won’t kill you today. At least not today, but later.

We do all we can to control the environment we place ourselves in daily. The job we choose to have, yes, you do choose your job, the friends we keep, the places we go, and on and on. Can we cuss our circumstances? Of course, we can. Does it help? Sometimes it makes us feel better only to soothe our pained heart. According to the book, by making a small choice differently each day, over a period of time, we can better our lives. Like the frogs, we cannot just decide to do something we have to do it. There are times circumstances throw us a curve ball. There may be a flight delay due to an equipment change, maybe the line at Subway was longer than you wanted, or maybe it is colder than you like. All of these things pass. How you handle them decides your day and whether your slight edge curve goes up or down.

Be wise, breathe, and let your decisions compound in a positive fashion each time.

Photo by Cristiane Teston on Unsplash
Photo by pine watt on Unsplash