
If you’re trying to make changes for the better and it feels forced or fake, don’t accept that as a sure sign that you’re wasting your time.
Just because an activity feels unnatural in the beginning doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re being fake for performing it.
It’s natural until you change it
Let’s consider a couple of examples:
Suppose you’re accustomed to sleeping in until 8am or later, but you’re now hired for a new job that requires you to be there at 6am every day. Waking up at 4:30am or 5am is probably going to feel very unnatural until you reorient your body’s natural rhythms and sleep cycles.
What if you’ve never exercised a day in your life and you decide that you want to start today? Running for two blocks might feel like immanent death. Until your body starts to get into a decent fitness routine, even a mild jog is going to feel very unnatural.
Everything’s easy once you learn how to do it
If you’re accustomed to complaining everyday about everything that goes wrong, it’s probably going to feel a bit exaggerated when you try to describe your experiences in a more positive light.
That doesn’t mean you’re being fake. It just might mean that you’re spiritually or mentally out of shape and you could use a bit of conditioning in those areas. You may have become so accustomed to interpreting events in a negative way that it now seems like the normal, healthy, natural thing to do.
If you can be patient with yourself and commit to self-development as a process, you’ll be surprised and pleased with how much you can proactively accelerate your spiritual evolution.
Treat yourself to a psychological makeover
We are never stuck with the present day version of our personalities.
We have the power to recondition our thought patterns, retrain our reactionary instincts, and reinvent our emotional processing habits.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” -Romans 12:2
The PURSUIT of happiness can only be fulfilled by the PRACTICE of happiness. Happiness doesn’t just “happen”. It’s the reward we receive for investing in our own well~being.
We must commit to the daily process of building new habits of speech & thought in the same way that an athelete trains her body or an artist perfects his craft
There’s nothing fake about persistence
My friend Chaz, from the One Direction Forward blog had this to say:
From someone who has grit his teeth on many occasions and forced myself by faith to try the path less travelled (or never-before travelled), I can say with assurance that it is highly uncomfortable the first time or two. But as we repeat it, the new way becomes more and more familiar. Not unlike making a change to a golf swing.
Our thinking is influenced by a culture that tells us to abandon anything that feels like force. This is true to a certain extent. It is important to remember, however, that many positive changes can feel like you’re forcing it or faking it during the embryonic stages of growth. This sensation does not last forever.
With a proper and balanced approach to personal development, feeling discouraged and defeated can eventually start to feel as unnatural as it’s supposed to feel for a being whose essence emanates from Infinite Joy AKA “You!”
That’s my two cents. What are your thoughts?
Cheers,
T.K. Coleman
If you liked this post, check out:
1. You can do anything better when you’re doing better
2. Sometimes there’s no lesson to learn
3. Perkiness & positivity are two different things