Teacher: Julie Miller /teacher/150049/julie-miller Making positive changes by, Kimberly Mitchell of Vancouver Examiner http://www.examiner.com/article/making-positive-changes
Why is it so hard to stick to our resolutions and to make positive changes in our life? It’s so easy to make promises about the year ahead.
You will eat more healthy, start an exercise routine, save more money, find a better job… We look forward to the New Year with optimism and enthusiasm as we set good intentions for positive change. But, for most, the promises we make today will be empty dreams in three to six months from now.
Despite our good intentions, we often end up falling back into our old habits and patterns. Why? It’s not for lack of will power or not really wanting what you say you want, but change is difficult and it takes work. Real change doesn't occur just because you want something or wish for another reality. In order to change, you are going to have to feel really uncomfortable and you must be willing to go through that discomfort, otherwise you will be pushed back into your old habits.
What keeps people from really making lasting positive change is fear. Fear of losing comfort, fear of failure, fear of losing control. Even our unhealthy coping mechanisms give us a sense of comfort because they are so familiar and familiarity, even if unhealthy, gives us a feeling of safety.
It’s not because you don’t want change or can’t change, rather because you are more committed (and comfortable) with an outdated self and old familiar ways of being.
For change to occur, you need to go deeper and discover what is driving you to continue unhealthy habits and preventing you from making the changes you say you want.
Debbie Ford, author of The 21-day Consciousness Cleanse states, “To feel inspired and lit up and to make room for optimism, enthusiasm, and lasting change, you must lighten your emotional load by addressing your past issues, your emotional blocks, your negative beliefs, your feelings of unworthiness and any infantile desires that drive you to repeatedly head off in a direction counter to your dreams.” For lasting change, you must be willing to go through temporary discomfort and commit with all of yourself to a new way of life and be unwilling to settle for less.
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