A day at a time
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” - Henry David Thoreau
A day at a time… That is all it takes some say, however, I would go further and say it a single moment at a time, a second at a time. Every second we decide to do things differently, make a conscious decision to think differently we are that much closer to our greatest goal – whatever that may be.
We can’t afford to betray ourselves and deviate from our path for even a moment – we have to keep asking ourselves: “Am I willing to do what it takes for the next ten minutes?”. This frees us up from getting obsessed by the notion of forever, and “when I am there I will be x, do x etc” thinking, it brings us to the essential which is just start where you are.
How we look at things and chose to spend the next moment is key to their ‘stickability’ within our lives. I truely believe people are made up of the minute decisions they have to make on an minute by minute basis – to fly off the handle or take a deep breath? To pick up that chocolate bar or to walk? To hit snooze just one more time or swing those magnificent pins out of bed? You know what I am getting at!
Great things come as a culmination of all the seconds in which we have vowed to think and act differently not by one day of being ‘perfect’ and then loosing it the next, or worse, always putting it off to tomorrow – start now this very second – its no big deal when you see it like that.
So, right now, commit to this moment and as you do remember what Ghandi said…
“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny”
I should probably add that I have written this for me as well – to tell myself these things I know and yet haven’t been able to perfect, but by keeping reminding myself throughout the day maybe one day I will find myself ‘there’
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