We are approaching the end to another work week and another Quote of the Day. One of the small victories on the road to change is when you notice, after a while, that a new routine you have been striving to create is now a habit. It sneaks up on you without warning. That isn’t to say that every routine I work towards becomes habit. That is the part that makes the experience when it does so much more enjoyable. Again, that isn’t to say that habits don’t take consistent effort and awareness to maintain. This process has enforced certain approaches to my life. With so many things requiring consistent attention and effort to grow, change and evolve it is no wonder that on, what sure feels like, a daily basis things get missed. However, instead of getting upset or annoyed by not being perfect I take it for what it generally is… a lesson. I’m human. I’m not going to be perfect. It’s just not in my DNA. I can get down on myself for that fact or I can use it as fuel. I can continually analyze what is going well and what isn’t. I can evaluate the circumstances, mindsets and behaviors to try and discern where I can get better and what I need to maintain. What I’m getting at is that life is not about destination. It is about journey. I had this notion growing up that if my faith was right then I wouldn’t struggle and I wouldn’t falter because I had “gotten it.” As I got older I took that same mindset into multiple aspects of my life. Oops! I couldn’t have been more wrong. Faith, life, and indeed making change is in the daily effort put forth. They are about trying my very best, about striving to do just a bit more than the day before. Habits, then, are not the goal but a tool and the effort to both create and maintain them is sharpening those tools so they can be most effective. Instead of looking at every day as a struggle to try and get through now I look at them as opportunities. Maybe the new day will bring me a new lesson, maybe it will re-enforce a lesson I’ve known for a while, or maybe the whole snow globe is about to get shaken up. Take the opportunity today to decide if your habits are taking you where you want to go. Have a blessed day, y’all! Stay safe, stay dry and enjoy another beautiful day.
