Change and Socrates

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

― Socrates

So today I woke up with a jelly bean hang over.  I ate somewhere south of a cup of the little buggers while watching Game of Thrones last night, two bad habits in one.  My body just cannot take the on-slot of pure sugar.  Maybe it used to be able to but not any more, not any more.  I still have a ton of jelly beans, yum Jelly Belly, but I am not sure what to do with them.  I should have brought them with me to work and given them to all the teenagers I am surrounded by.  Don't get me wrong I love my teenagers they do great work and have loads of energy, usually.  They are really low key today, very focused on all the work I gave them to do.  Darn, because I sure could use a little of their silliness today, jelly bean hang over oh it hurts.

So change.  I used to work with OCD clients and man they will teach you a whole lot about habits if you let them.  When I started we were working with the behavioral modification model   Man oh man that didn't work.  With behavioral mod it was all about stamping out the (bad) behavior/habit.  We would stamp them out alright but it was like stepping on smoke.  The minute one habit died a new one would take its place.  Actually mostly two or three little new ones would show up and by the time we noticed them they had all gotten as big and strong as the original habit.  No wonder I dreamed of fighting hydra back in those days.   Truth be told the only thing I found that brought any relief was helping the client identify their anxiety and develop new coping mechanisms.

I am not OCD.  If there is a thing that is the opposite of OCD I am that.  If I even get a hint that I am doing something habitually, I change it.  This is no healthier than obsessively washing your hands.  Imagine going through your whole life with the conviction that every moment must be a spontaneous and unique experience it is exhausting and CRAZY.

Back to change.  According to Socrates, and my own life experience, change is less about what you no longer do and more about what you do differently.  So change number one:  Today I will walk to pick my son up from school.  It is a half mile walk each way, rather pleasant with a moderate incline.  This will give me more energy, help me sleep better, decrease the inflammation in my legs, all good.  Even better it gives me slow time with my son to chat about his day.  He loves being outside and walking.  We get to see wild life and he has better focused when doing his homework.  This leads to an overall better evening, read no yelling.  Yep it seems silly not to go and get him.  By being lazy (lets face it that is what it is, lazy) and having him come home on the bus, I am causing myself and my son all kinds of grief. 

Second change, do something with those Jelly Bellies that does not involve consuming them!  Please comment any ideas that you have for resolving my Jelly Belly problem.  Creative ideas welcome.  FYI putting them in any other orifice will be considered consuming so don’t even go there with your bad selves.