Honesty and Change

2 months ago, I decided that I was ready to change something about myself that I didnʼt
like. I am not a stranger to change. I love change. I embrace it. I search for it. However
one thing I have learned is that deciding to change something is just the first step.
Depending on what you want to change, the road can be long. The harder the change is
to accomplish, the more rewarding the journey.

We all have patterns in our minds and
bodies. Some are more extablished than others. Sometimes awareness of a pattern in
enough. Sometimes you think you have understood the pattern and you dig a little
deeper, take a more honest look at yourself and realize that you have only scratched
the surface of understanding and changing your pattern.

In my case, I wanted to address some atrophy in my body. As I have learned about my atrophy,
I have truly begun to understand my body. I have recognized tightness for what it is and weakness
for what it it, as opposed to being afraid. I have begun to look at the fear I was holding
and move through it. I have started to listen to signs of pain and recognize what my
body is telling me. And guess what? Iʼm beginning to change!
Change is a process. Here are some things that are helping me:

• Be honest with yourself
• Ask yourself “Why do you want to change?”
• small steps daily are extremely effective
• Get out of your own way
• Pay attention!
• Ask your friends for help, and listen to them
• Give yourself some sort of time line
• If you have fear around the change, take a more relaxed approach
• Start to incorporate the change into your daily life, and make it a routine
• Breather and let go of tension. There is a difference between tension and strength.
Explore how they feel different
• Enjoy the process
• Be patient and kind to yourself. You can always try again
• Continue moving forward in your process
• Make a promise to yourself
• Can you think of excuses that might come up during your process? Write them down
• Pay attention to how far youʼve come
• Life is full of choices. Make one choice at a time