Don't Wait for the New Year

I used to say, "Next year, I'm going to change this or that about myself, and when January 1 rolled around, I would say, "I'm not quite ready, maybe later..." But later, I would pull the New Year card out and play it again.

One day I read that you can change yourself and your life in one moment, if you simply shift your thought. If you are scared spitless - face the fear and in an instant the fear is gone and you are either free of the fear, mad as the dickens, or seeing it was only a paper tiger. That moment of sanity shifted the paradigm.

And so it was when I decided Cesar Milan was right, there can only be one lead dog in a house. When I thought about it, I realized I had wanted a "pal", someone who didn't ask more of me than food on a regular basis, clean water, fresh air and some grass for ... well, you know what.

When I had to put down my 13-year old devoted female lab, I came home to the 5 year old male lab/shepherd mix who had become a disruptive lead dog. We had a "come to Jesus meeting." The moment I walked in the the door he knew I had become lead dog. Nothing was said, not threats. He just sensed the change. I had made up my mind on the way home from the vet that his disruptive behavior was over, and I would be lead dog or he would be gone. Within a day without yelling, hitting, yanking on chains or collars, he was a willing and obidient dog and I was a more responsible owner, realizing I had to play with him, walk with him and stick to my guns on obedience.

I have been using that Instant Change of Thinking ever since in every aspect of my life and find it is critical to my mental health. You are either going to change or you're not. And your bad habits aren't someone else's responsibility, only yours. I had a friend say she was going to a shrink to get him to make her quit seeing a man who was toxic. No one can "make" you do that. They can sit and hold your hand and charge you by the hour until you realize you have to do it... but until that moment when you make up your mind and put that nail in the coffin of a bad habit, and the mind locks in on the change, you won't make the change.

If you have to focus on all the benefits or all the disadvantages, get them firmly in mind, and realize you deserve better. If you don't give yourself a break, why should anyone else. In the end...it is all up to you, and all you have to do...is change your mind, shift your thinking for one moment and feel the power of the change. You will change your life.

Have to go walk my dog now, our lives have sure changed and improved with a human as lead dog.