As 2016 approached its end, I started to take inventory of my life and began doing some major removal and cleansing.
Like that of a snake, I was ready to exist in my new skin.
A couple of years back, for New Year’s I became a vegetarian (because let’s face it, I didn’t know how to cook, so might as well make it easier on myself and eliminate having to cook meat altogether), and I started a trial and error program of finding out what kind of exercise routines worked best for me long term.
Fast forward two years later, I’ve got my own little cook book of vegetarian recipes (which my mom is oh so proud of me for),and I’m an inch closer every year to doing the splits without feeling like I am tearing my pelvis apart.
This year? My resolution is to rewire impulsive behaviors.
If I have learnt anything in the last two years when it comes to cooking and exercising, it’s that quick and fast don’t last.
You want results that last a life-time? You can’t expect to get it in a quick fix.
I’ve been applying this theory to the way I manage my finances, the way in which I approach educating myself in writing, and in relationships.
By the time you read this, it will have only been four days after the new year, and I will have only been practicing this new behaviour for less than a couple of weeks. But so far, the one thing I have noticed is how my decision making has slowed down.
Kind of like that scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry is on the night bus and there are two double deckers approaching, and Ernie the driver magically slows down time, allowing him to complete all the actions he needs to make the bus suck itself in so that it can easily squeeze in between the two buses.
As an impulsive person, watching this impulsive driver slow things down and succeed in, well, not dying and killing the protagonist, was very gratifying.
And it reminded me that there is a payoff in taking your time. You might not see it right away, like you would if you were impulsive. But from my experience, slowing down to build something lasts longer than instant gratification.
On behalf of Houston Today, happy new year!
