I have been going back through some of my journals of late and there is a disturbing trend I see throughout.

Very little change.

I see the same comments over and over again and little changes in my habits year over year. Journaling is a window into your life that lets you see just what you are really doing.

And it can be disturbing.

How little you find you really are doing.

Yes, some things change. But more often than not we tend to come back to center.

We are like a pendulum that no matter how far it may swing it always comes back to center.

A good friend used to always say, “water finds its mark”.

A truer statement has never been uttered, especially when it comes to our lives. After a certain age we tend to continually fall back into what is familiar, comfortable. We find, if we look hard enough, that no matter how much we change we stay the same.

This is really frustrating. I have wanted to change many aspects of my life for a long time and some of them I have…for a time. Then I find myself right back to center.

I think part of it is that we take for granted much of how we live life. We do so on autopilot. Thus, habits do not change appreciably. They shift, for a time, then shift back.

I know true habit based change comes from replacing what we do with something positive, not by guilting ourselves into change.

I heard a recent study of people who were told “If you do not change, you will die” had a success factor of less than 10%. And of the less than 10% who changed, what caused them to make truly lasting change? Something positive that they wanted to live for. Not an outcome (lose weight, stop smoking, etc..) but something bigger that they wanted to do, be or be around for. It was the journey that kept them alive, not a desire for the destination.

I would venture to bet that most of those who made change also adapted the journey when the destination was reached. They climbed higher, ever seeking the summit.

As I reflect on this today and think about the shorter years I have left on the planet than I have lived, I really do want to move off center. I need to push toward a summit that I cannot yet see but should be climbing toward.

I need to keep myself off center.

Rod

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