Many times, people are comfortable with things just the way they are. I was comfortable with my life even though it was bad. It meant I didn’t have to get honest with myself.
Making something different or changing things can cause a stir within folks.
That was my initial attitude toward getting clean and sober.
With the way the world is changing constantly, it seems like it’s either get with the new program or be stuck where you are and feel lost in the world you’ve always known.
That’s how I felt in my addiction and it’s not limited to just drugs and alcohol.
Many practical examples exist.
I’m amazed that some people still carry around flip phones and that they actually work. They are probably even better than the smartphones that can do a million things that we don’t even know about. Eventually, all good things must come to an end if it’s not directly related to a Higher Power.
Change in our lives and the things that we do can usually improve the way we are productive and get things done.
Charles Darwin summarized as best as an evolutionist can, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change.”
I survive today because I let God manage the change in me through the steps and a daily walk with Him. Not my will but thine be done.
The world of sports is an ever evolving process that requires constant change as another example.
Basketball can show how change is important. A ballgame usually requires several changes in the moment. Every team has a handful of plays because no game plan can be reliant on a single thing to finish with a win.
Occasionally a team will be able to run the same play over and over with success. Perhaps it’s a series of screens that get a player open and that person continues knocking down the same shot.
Eventually the opposing coach will finish pulling his or her hair out and explain to their team that they must be aware of that play and make appropriate changes to eliminate that option for the other team.
The players may not be aware that a change in strategy is required. I can think of many moments in my obsessed life that this was my way of thinking. Completely oblivious to what was going on in my life.
When people on a team work together, this is accomplished easier.
A simple change can send the other team back to the drawing board and make adjustments that can directly affect the results of the ballgame.
Anyone who has ever watched a football game has repeatedly heard the coach mention that they will make the appropriate changes at halftime. If a football team does the same thing in the second half that they did in the first half against a good team, then they might as well just hand the game over to the opponent.
I was unwilling to make changes in my life and I felt like I was handing my life over to the drugs and alcohol. I gave all power away to the wrong things.
Noticing when something needs to change is key. It took me many years after observing this before I reached out for help. I didn’t realize — nor wish to accept — that my addictions were unable to be solved according to my own will power.
We all have moments in our life when things aren’t going the direction we anticipated. Doing something different is required when things aren’t working with us in charge.
Everyone knows that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.
As plain as day as that statement seems, it’s still something that is easy to miss. Whether people consider themselves stuck in their ways or simply stubborn, change with the right motives is usually a move in the right direction.
This writer knows that some things need changed to make life more manageable. Things that worked well yesterday may not be very efficient tomorrow.
There are always several ways to do things. Work smarter, not harder. I’ve heard people say, “I’m lazy so I do things the easy way.”
A wise man once noted that the only thing that remains constant is change and the only thing that never changes is truth.
Regardless of a person’s disposition, it’s easier to grow and learn when you’re honest enough with yourself to say that a change in the way I do things could be beneficial.
Walking into the 12-step rooms after a 21-year drinking and drug obsession was the greatest decision that I ever made. When I got honest in that room, God began showing me all the promises.
Today I’m grateful to be clean and sober. If you can’t say that, then reach out for help.
The best change in your life can come when you ask for a solution and stop trying to be the solution yourself.