I’m sure you’ve heard the story about the old Cherokee speaking to his grandson about good and evil. He told the boy that everybody has two wolves fighting inside of them. One wolf is good, loving, humble, benevolent and honest. The other is greedy, envious, selfish, and arrogant. The little boy looked at the old man intently and asked, “Which wolf wins?” The grandfather replied, “The one you feed – that one will surely win.”
This is the start of another year and with it comes all kinds of resolutions, promises, commitments and the like. Very few are kept and the likely reason is not so much we don’t want to keep them but we fail to starve old beliefs and behaviors and we quickly grow tired of “feeding” the new.
It reminds me of the alcoholic who decides he wants to quit so he puts down the bottle determined to finally whip it but he continues to hang around the same spaces, places and faces.
Effective change requires wholesale disruption and transformation of our life.
It is not an event, it is a process.
What is it you want to change in your life?
For real change to happen you must start feeding the new change daily while starving the beliefs and actions that no longer serve to feed the new commitment.
If you are serious about making positive change, here are some steps that will help you:
Pray for it – Pray first thing in the morning for God’s help in starving the old and feeding the new.
Picture it – What are you trying to change? How will it look after the change has taken place?
Plan it – Write the change down on paper and create action steps to accomplish it.
Practice it – Make a commitment to do whatever you are doing differently, in a very focused manner for at least 4 weeks. Call it boot camp. Tell yourself your life depends on this change. For some resolutions like dealing with addictions, your life does depend on it…I write from experience.
People it – Surround yourself with people who have learned how to feed the new habit you are trying to create and/or have starved the old habit. God works best through His people.
Pray for it…again, again and again.
Some sayings to spur you on as you become tempted to opt out of your new year’s commitment:
Excuses are like our hind ends, we all have them and they all stink. As soon as you start making excuses think of this saying I first heard (uncensored) from my college basketball coach back in 1979.
If I’m not the problem, then there is no solution. Blaming other people, places and things for your inability to feed the new and starve the old is an excuse as described above.
KISS…Keep It Simple, Stupid. Take baby steps. Set easy to achieve short term goals in the beginning. Feel what it’s like to win and then begin stretching yourself a little bit more as the year goes on.
BEST WISHES FOR YOU ON THIS JOURNEY AND…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed; behold, the new has come.”
