Make an Effort

If our lives are not what we want them to be, the simple answer is to change them. One stumbling block in the road to change is called an autopilot. I worked at the same job for years, and after I retired I found myself driving to my old job. Sometimes I even came close to making the final turn onto the street where the building stood.

Habits are extremely helpful in our lives. It allows us to do repeated tasks without much thought or effort. But when those repeated things prove unwanted it can be difficult to break the old habits and form new ones. The Dalai Lama wrote, “Each of you should feel that you have great potential and that, with self-confidence and a little more effort, change really is possible if you want it.”[1]

When it comes to breaking habits, the answer is simply to do it. Make the effort one decision at a time, one day at a time, and one moment at a time. We can replace old negative ways of thinking and replace them with a positive approach to life. Start with the positive, and in time, it will drive out the negative.

[1] Dalai Lama (2012-05-31). The Dalai Lama’s Book of Wisdom (p. 67). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.