Sunday Story…The Resistance

Taking a break from my writings on recovery to address the subject of resistance. Specifically, resistance to change.

Human animals are built to find comfort and ease. That means change is not something to be embraced. We prefer the routine, the regular, the rudimentary. Change forces us out of our comfort zone, forces us to do things that we aren’t good at or don’t want to do, and forces us to confront the parts of our world that are hard and difficult.

Rationally, we know change is good for us. But deep inside we resist doing anything that will upset the status quo. We see people around us engage in unhealthy behaviors. They know better. But the default is to keep doing what they are doing.

Change is hard. You must want to change. I mean really want to change. It can’t just be a good idea or a thing to “try” out. You must find your “why” for the change. People don’t stop smoking because it’s bad for their health. Everyone already knows that. People stop smoking because their grandchild, in all their innocence, tells them they don’t like the way they smell. Change is spurred by emotion. When change is hard, emotion propels us past the hard part.

Here is why you are reading this now:

It is that time of year when we look back at what went right, and wrong and could be better for next year. This is going to require change! If you want the change to stick you need to be emotionally invested. You can’t just think it’s a good idea, you must have an emotional buy-in deep inside. Is this the year you (fill in the blank here)? You can’t begin without a compelling reason to make that change happen. If your why is powerful enough the how will take care of itself.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

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