Let the Bread Rise

There's this wish that many of us have (disguised as a belief) that the changes that we're set on making in our lives may come over us like the night comes over the earth and when we wake up something has changed, perhaps forever.

We go to bed thinking, "Tomorrow will be the day I get up early/stop eating sugar/go for a run/end it with my ex for real this time."

Then 99.9% of the time, that's not what happens. We fall back into old patterns and habits only to find ourself being the same old us by noon.

However, sometimes, changes appear to happen overnight. We hear stories of people who say, "I don't know what happened but one day I just started/stopped [insert positive life change here]."

Those people aren't liars. They just aren't telling the whole story. They might not even realize that they are doing that.

I fell into this when I began talking about how I stopped smoking cannabis in January. People that knew me close seemed to find it miraculous. I'd say, "One day I did it and realized I didn't like it anymore." That is true, but it's not the whole truth.

Any major change, breakthrough in success, life-altering shift in behavior, has months or more likely years of prep work happening under the surface. I had found a journal going back to 2013 where I was writing about wanting to change my relationship to cannabis. Thinking back, I can find those same wishes in my consciousness going back to 2009 and probably even earlier. I did all kinds of work on myself to get me to a place where I could find a conviction in my conscious mind that it wasn't for me anymore.

But much of that work was happening under the surface. It had been brewing for over a decade.

So most often, the changes that we seek to make in our lives happen slowly and below our conscious awareness. Though that could be frustrating, here's another way to look at it:

If you have the desire to create the change, even if you don't see it happening, it is most likely already underway in a subterranean part of you. That change is already happening.

So when you feel yourself disappointed in "doing the thing again," instead look at it as another direction on your map. It's letting you know where on the path you're at. The change is still brewing inside you.

Change won't come into this world until it's fully cooked. Be patient. Let the bread rise. Someday you'll open the oven and discover that the dough has turned into biscuits. What a delicious day that will be. Just remember to thank your past self for all the prep work.