At 63, am striving to up my level of play at the Game of Life (the real deal, not the board game). Doing a mega low tech mind scan to figure out why I persist in melting down when presented with an interesting challenge than I am to zoom into energy over-drive.
The folks I consider the best friends we've got in this or any other universe are just the opposite. Present them with an intriguing opportunity & they go into mental/emotional triage, determining if it's a) of sufficient interest to keep hold of their mental energies from start to FINISH and b) offers sufficient emotional connection to successfully encourage spur badger them from start to FINISH. They have the gift of recognizing the difference between what engages their awareness, what engages their interest & what truly engages their hearts - i.e. is worth engaging their energies.
They know the difference between learning something & learning it, then practicing. What a concept!
In order to develop healthier habits, learning & practice practice practice is an absolute necessity. In order to achieve my ultimate improved state - where my norm is more in sync with my BFs - it's necessary to do the very thing I want to ultimately learn. To break my ineffective habits, then replace them with ones actually geared to moving my life onward & up up upward, means learning & practicing over & over with a range of currently fumbling life practices.
It's by doing just that - learning followed by practice practice practice of a new & improved pattern - that the way will be cleared for the big change, the one I can prepare the psyche to receive but that's about all I can do. All of the smaller changes - effectively recognized accepted overhauled - are required prep for the biggie.
All my life, I've loved learning new things. For the most part, that's where my pleasure ended - with the rush of learning the new. Investing time & energies doing the grunt work to deepen the new learning, actually intertwine it with my mind & spirit? Nah - that was boring. Much more fun to move onto the next new rush of some fresh tidbit learned. Result - never feeling the joy of hard work followed by an accomplished goal. Not to be underestimated!
Up until my mid-30s, it was my practice to purchase interesting looking book, particularly books about history. There were dozens of history-related books on my shelves, all of which looked impressive & very few of which I'd ever actually read. The fun was in the discovery, the purchase - reading them was not my next natural step.
Today, book shelves in the living room, den, computer studio, front room, bedroom are packed with even more books, books on a wide range of subjects but primarily about a range of personal dynamics. And they've all been read, many reread. Today, I don't buy a book unless I intend to actually read it. That's a big step forward - and it only took me 37+ years to take. And I did it.
In the here & now, I need to treat the things that dangle themselves in front of me to do with the same discernment. Instead of loading up my mind with things that draw my attention, even spark my interest, I have to be as clear-headed as I am with book purchases - which will I actually stick with to completion? Identify those few, embrace them, then practice practice practice until they make the final leap from learned to completed.
Turns out that what it takes to get to a great, expansive, fulfilling life is the same if you're a kid or eligible for AARP - practice practice practice!
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