Version:1.0 StartHTML:000000281 EndHTML:000020486 StartFragment:000017442 EndFragment:000020386 StartSelection:000017442 EndSelection:000020382 SourceURL:https://timelightproductions.goodgallery.com/blog/2016/05/24/if-you-want-to-see-change-you-may-have-to-spend-a-little/ Photography by Time Light Productions: If you want to see change, you may have to spend a little.
The past few days, I have been thinking about change. My dad often refers to a quote, and I’m not sure where it is from, but he says, “We do not change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” We all need to make changes in our lives. We need to eat better, exercise, drink less caffeine, love more, be more kind. Some changes are small and barely impact our lives, while some are great and require huge effort. Whether the change is small or great, it seems that it can take quite a long time for us to act. It can be really exciting, or dreadful. Why is it that the important changes seem to feel so much more dreadful than the not so important changes…like changing a wardrobe from spring to summer, or turning the page in a calendar? It is because the important things, valuable things, cost something…our time, our energy, our money. Perhaps it is also because the payoff is not often immediate.
How can we train ourselves to change before the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change? When we wait, the change is often much more dramatic and the jump much greater. Why can’t we change in increments, little by little, day by day, step by step, in small, calculated discomforts? When we wait, we not only suffer the cost to make the change, but we suffer the pain that is forcing us to do it…I guess you could say the cost of change is then doubled!
So, I present that if we want to see change, spend a little. Don’t spend a lot. Be diligent. Be deliberate. Whatever change we know we need to make, invest in it with a little of our time, our energy and our resources, on a regular basis. But how can we trick our brains into committing to this drudgery?! We need clear vision. We need to see vividly how the end result of intentional change will add value to our lives and how the opposite will cost us greatly. With a vision of what we want, clearly before us, and daily obtainable goals to get there, the small victories along the way can bring a new level of joy and excitement to the daily grind. And the great thing about tiny goals is that if they aren’t reached on a day we want to just slack-off, it is not nearly as hard to jump back in.
Clear that calendar, get quiet with a pen and paper, write down what you need to change. Write down how your life will look if you get there. Write down how it will look if you don’t. Be specific. What can you do, right now, to start? What will you be giving up to do that thing? What will it cost you? Because remember, you have to spend a little to see that change.
I was not intending for this post to be so weighty! 🙂 Hope you are encouraged to start making the changes you want in your life that you’ve been putting off!