It is a week into 2013, and many solemn resolutions are already on the casualty list. The reasons as to why these heartfelt, self-change promises fall by the wayside are numerous and varied. The stark fact remains: change is HARD! We are sinful creatures who live in a fallen world, and temptations abound! Is there any way the change process can be made easier?
John Trents' book, The 2-Degree Difference: How Little Things Can Change Everything, provides sound advice. Trent, when asked how he came to write the book, recounted the following:
"Several years ago, I spoke with a NASA flight engineer. He told me that if the Apollo 13 astronauts had been just 2 degrees off on their way home from the moon – they would have missed the earth by over 11,121 miles!"
Trent’s lesson is clear: big changes can be brought about in our lives by concentrating on propagating small changes over time. Baby steps, some might call it. Perhaps our issue is that we take on too much, and the change we want to bring about seems overwhelming. Yet, if we plan out what we want to change about ourselves and break it down into small segments, that overwhelming change may not seem so daunting! Maybe that workout program won’t seem so difficult if we start out at 5 minutes a day and then over the next couple of months work up to a half an hour a day. In addition, if we take the time to plan it out, it gives us an opportunity to think it through. It is easier to establish goals and objectives that we can meet.
Socrates once exclaimed "The unexamined life is not worth living." The Bible also tells us that “..Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalms 139:23-24). Perhaps we just need to change by 2 degrees at a time.
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Mr. Marica contributes incisive and contemporary Christian commentary for Examiner.com on a regular basis. He holds an MA from Liberty University, and he is the Director of Godly Training Ministries. You can find out more about him by clicking here.
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