There’s a thought I’ve noticed that comes to my mind often.
“It will take too long to see a difference.”
It’s sister thought is:
“It won’t make a difference.”
This is a thought my brain offered me at some point and I have thought it over and over again. So much so that I see evidence for it all the time, which reinforces it.
I think it when I want to lose a few pounds.
I think it when I want to be a better dancer.
I think it when I want to fix up something in my house.
I think it when I want to change how I parent my kids.
I think it when I want to change the way I interact with my spouse.
I use it to stop myself. I use it to limit myself.
When I think it, I try a little, but not very hard, and give up quickly. Which proves my efforts don’t make a difference, or that it will take to long to see the difference.
I started questioning the thought.
What if I’m wrong about that?
Did you see how relatively quickly the pollution is clearing up over countries in lockdown? Weeks!!
Climate issues we have been debating for years…ideas that it will take a generation to repair what we have done…could we be wrong about that?
Evidence that efforts can make a difference in a short amount of time.
When I think:
“Maybe it won’t take long to see a difference.”
“What if I actually tested what is possible?”
“Let’s just try. For reals”
Then I see new evidence.
Losing 10 pounds in a month or two after thinking about doing so for years.
Learning dance techniques I couldn’t do just a few weeks and months ago.
Painting the walls in a weekend and realizing it really DID make a difference in how the house felt.
Changing how I respond to my kids has an immediate change. At least in me.
Letting my spouse be exactly who he wants to be, letting go of any need for him to be different, led to me feeling so much more love and peace. A big difference.
Your mind is powerful. It thinks things and then creates it. What you think about becomes your reality.
The difference in this case is hope.
The first couple are hopeless, defeating, limiting.
The second group, hopeful, encouraging, possible.
The road forward will still take work. Either way. Work from hopeless sucks. It’s hard. It’s willpower.
Work from curiosity, exploration, hope…so much more tolerable and even enjoyable. Sometimes even fun.
Pay attention to what you are thinking! This is the key to everything, my friends.
