Week after week I’ve talked on here about change: change of perspective, change of attitude, change of heart, change of mindset, change of behaviour. We are surrounded by opportunities to change or to stick with the way that we’ve always done it.
We were wandering along in Northern France today. I was chatting with my husband about changes through the years in the ways that we respond. It was good to simply notice.
I noticed it recently when travelling with others. I don’t react to things like I used to.
It’s really easy to be aware of the things that we’re still working on, but take stock; what are the areas that you have already changed in?
Taking stock of changes can encourage you, inspire you and give you an anchor on a hard day.
I used to participate in a regular bible study that focuses on applying what you learn. I remember in one of the seminars, there was a statistic tucked in. There were 8 studies at the time and each study consisted of 32 lessons. The maths went like this: if you make one change a week from what you’re learning, by the time you have finished all eight studies, you will have made 256 changes in your life.
That blew me away. Up until then, I felt like I was just treading water with what I was learning. I was encouraged. If I kept making a little change each week, then over time those changes would stack up and make a difference in how I went about things.
So, when I say, “take a note of changes”, I don’t mean noticing only the big things. This week, was there one time that you reacted differently to how you might have before? If so, then, yay!! Celebrate your accomplishment. Be encouraged!
If you observe one change, then suddenly you realise that you can change. You are not stuck where you are. You can move forward.
Hopefully that is an inspiration to you. When you’ve done it once, you can do it again. That ‘muscle’ will begin to get a feel for the new movement and the next time might be a little easier. Even if it’s not, as you keep practicing your brain will begin to form a new pathway in this new way of doing things.
Is something healing and it is painful to make progress?
Even when it seems like a hard thing to do, noticing a change can be enough to get you moving again.
Yesterday we had been walking a long way and I was getting tired and sore. I started to whinge half-jokingly and we were heading for the one food place open in this small town. The cafe was due to close at 5pm. It was currently 3:30pm. Everything in me was sure that I was done for the day and I couldn’t walk another step. Then it started raining – we were about 100m away from our destination – I had renewed determination to get there. We finally arrived, dripping wet, and asked if they had some food. They said that the food was finished for the day. There was no rest here. Minutes before, I was sure that I couldn’t walk another step. But with the rain bringing out my determination and the hard reality that there was nothing here for us, I was able to keep going a few minutes more to get to our accommodation.
Today, we walked even further. It was supposed to be a shorter day. There was a big hill at the end. I tell you; I could have easily gone past the hill! All I wanted was a warm shower and fresh clothes, but there was a massive war memorial sitting at the top of the hill and that was one of the highlights of the day’s walk. I considered how sore my feet had been yesterday and realised that they’re actually better than yesterday and so I plodded my way up that hill. It was a pretty amazing place.
Knowing that I could push through yesterday helped me to push through again today. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as sore as yesterday’s attempt. My body is adjusting to the constant walking and each day makes a difference.
When you’ve had a bad day or you’ve made a choice that you regret, remember the positive change that you made. You might have made a mistake today or reacted like you used to, but that doesn’t define you. You can make a change. You’ve done it before.
If your self-talk is slipping into the negative, recall the example of the change that you made. Use it as an anchor. You responded well this other time, perhaps you could do it again. You are capable of it. You can change.
Have you heard the expression: two steps forward, one step back? It is really normal to make progress somewhere and then feel like that progress has slipped away again. You might have taken a step back, but you’re still ahead of where you started.
I had that harder day yesterday, but when I finished walking, I was further along the road than I started. This morning I was expecting to struggle, but I was quite surprised to find how much better I felt. Just because it was a challenge to keep going yesterday doesn’t mean that today will look the same.
Taking stock of changes can encourage you, inspire you and give you an anchor on a hard day.
If we don’t notice that we’ve made a change, then it’s really easy to downplay or dismiss our progress. Years ago, when I was applying one lesson a week from that study, I could never have imagined how I would respond years later on the more challenging parts of this trip. I could never have imagined writing a blog on becoming unoffendable – that would have been laughable once upon a time!
My husband and I have both changed. We’ve changed over the years and we’re changing day by day. We change at our own pace and in our own ways and it was good today to chat and notice that we’re not the same as we used to be.
You’re changing too. We all do. The question I guess is do we allow life to just sweep us along and only change in response to the inevitable changes that life brings, or do we make intentional changes and have some say in who we become?
