Sunday Musings

       

Life is full of moments.  In fact, the reality is that moments are all there are…a series of never repeated fragments pasted together into a tapestry that is who you are.  Okay, I realize that sounds like I just took a puff of a funny cigarette, so let me come back down to earth a bit. It is in those moments that change happens.  When we talk about our health, or anything else for that matter, it’s largely about change.  Our bodies change, much to our chagrin most of the time.  Aging is nothing but change.  The joy is in the realization that we can control some of the things that change.  And that’s where the moments come in again.

        Change happens in two stages.  The first is in the decision to change and the second is in the implementation of change.  Let’s say you want to lose weight.  The choice to lose weight comes in a moment.  You simply decide it’s a good thing.  There are millions of reasons you may decide that, but at some point, those have to coalesce into the idea of change, and that is the moment it happens.  In the real world that is the easy part.  That is the moment that is necessary, but if orphaned will blow away like a tumbleweed.

The follow through is the hard part.  I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.  How many times has each of us had a brilliant moment only to find it choked out of existence by procrastination, laziness, confusion, or lack of clarity.  

Take weight loss again. You make the decision but it hits the wall like a marathoner at mile 21.  Here’s a bit of advice as to how to bust through that wall. Be accountable.  Tell someone, anyone, everyone, about your moment, whether it’s weight loss or changing jobs, or proposing, or taking out the garbage.  Let the world know. That one step can motivate you to follow through almost more than anything else.  The desire to change has to be intrinsic (internally driven) but the follow-through can be extrinsic  (externally driven).

Ideally, tell someone who will care.  If they care, they will cajole, badger, applaud or even join you in your change moment.  We are social creatures, yes even you introverts like me occasionally need the input of fellow humans.  Change is hard, and we need to use all the resources available to facilitate persistent change. Whatever your moment, realize that you can accomplish the unthinkable, move the immobile, dream the unlikely, or change the unchangeable.   It all happens in a moment