Day 152: The art of consistency

We people like to see results from what we are doing. If we start a diet we like to see results at least in a few days when we hop on the scale. And if we change our attitude towards others, we like to see that the people around is treat us differently. If we do such a drastic change like going AF, we want to feel the life altering feeling everyone is talking about, if not in a few days at least in a few weeks. 

When we do not see the changes as fast as we have pictured, we get disappointed. Especially if everyone around us seems to get more results. End when the results fail to arrive, we start to question if this alcohol-free endeavor is really worth it. We have a very short memory for how bad it was when it was the worst when we drank so we desperately long for the positives to become so apparent that we cannot neglect them. We do not want it to be a struggle not to drink - we want it to be something we just do because we like it. 

All lifestyle changes is about consistency. If we keep doing it, the changes will come. Maybe not as fast as we had anticipated but they will come. These expectations of drastic results is what always gets in the way for us when building consistent habits. 

It's not that obvious in the beginning. It's more like a slowly growing feeling. Piece by piece I'm building me from the inside. Replacing broken shards of when I was a worse dad because of alcohol. Or when I said something when intoxicated which I later regretted. All those memories of bad things I've done slowly fades away. And the beauty of not drinking is that I'm not refilling with new bad memories all the time. And I consistently become a little bit better every day, slowly building the most optimal me I can be. 

Quick fixes give short term benefits. Consistent change gives consistent rewards. It's like a slow change in the weather, hardly noticeable but a sense of being able to breathe fresh air when the sun sends its first rays over the edge of the cloud.  

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