You Can Make the One Choice to Change Your Life for the Better
Are you ready to stop drifting and start living?
Are you afraid to change? Why?
Does this dialogue sound familiar to you?
I asked Harry how he was doing.
Harry, “I’m hanging in there.”
I questioned, ‘Why are you ‘hanging in there?’
He replied, ‘I’m afraid to let go. I’m at a dead-end. I’m sure nothing is going to change!’
There is a simple though not easy, remedy for the oft-repeated phrase, ‘I’m sure nothing is going to change.’
Change before you have to. Jack Welch
You see, yes, you do; Change is inevitable. Time has a way of applying rust to new cars, trucks, and our best-envisioned plans when left unused.
On another occasion, I met with Jim.
Jim wanted to talk with me about his failing marriage. But his opening statement hastened the county sheriff handing him his divorce papers.
‘She wants me to change, and I’m not changing!’
Guess what?
His life changed. He’s now a divorced man and has lost contact with his four sons.
You get to make the Change you want to live with, or Change will subject you to live with the Change you never wanted.
You see, the phrase ‘I’m sure nothing is going to change’ is a misnomer. Change is insidious. Time marches on, and Change is its twin brother.
I remember this poignant remark made by Dr. David Jeremiah. I can’t get it out of my head all these years later.
No one drifts towards holiness.
Okay, so you’re not into holiness. But I remind you that no one drifts towards wealth or significant relationships. What you tend to, you become. Intentionality comes into play to redirect drift to surge.
So to get the Change you want and stop drifting through life, what’s a person to do? Here’s where we get to the simple through, not easy remedy.
Ben Franklin of yonder years developed a system for people to choose the right choice for Change. He called it Prudential Algebra. Don’t let his title throw you since his central thesis is simple. Divide a sheet of paper into two columns — a Pro and Con. Fill the pro column for your choice to be super — the con column, why your idea for Change is not acceptable. I won’t go into details since his article is short and helpful. It is interesting how he uses the process of elimination to come to making the correct choice. Check it out here.
Come on, Richard, that’s so old school. We all know the sheet of paper divided into two columns. Yes, you know, but did you ever use it? Before you brought the 5 bedroom house in the gated community? How about the new car with all the bells and whistles? Did you use Ben’s process of elimination to get to the most favorable choice? My money says you didn’t. But now you can because you older and wiser, right?
Do not be afraid of Change. Do not stay stuck in neutral, drifting through life.
At the beginning of my piece, one man was afraid to let go. Another man was against changing.
Either man could choose the Change he wanted. Neither did, and both received unexpected results.
So stop the drift. Get out a piece of paper and follow Ben Franklin’s advice. Filling in the pro’s and con’s on paper is the easy part. It’s a little more challenging to work through the elimination process, I’ll admit.
Then you’re at the threshold of discovery! Action.
Taking action on your choice is the challenging but most rewarding step — the step to the life YOU choose to live.
Please do not leave it to chance.
