“We have come to accept our past history as our fate but tomorrow’s history is still to be written.” From the RenChenZa® 7 Step program © 2000 –2009 Andrew Ledford.
If we can’t accept our past we’ll have a difficult time moving forward. To accept does not necessarily mean to approve of our past or what happened in the past. However we do need to be aware of the past. Sometime awareness of our history allows us to better understand that we are not to blame for some event or trait in our lives. Once we’re free of guilt we can decide on what action will change tomorrow’s history in a useful way. Accepting our history allows us the freedom to alter our future.
One aspect of history we must accept is our family history. A family history has both a genetic component and a social one as well. Many resources are acquired from our families. And it’s this historic passing of resources from family members that best illustrates how our resources are a byproduct of our histories.
We pass resources from one day to the next, from yesterday’s history to the present and then into the future. Passing the good and the bad from day to day is similar to the idea of karma. While much good fortune is from luck, a great deal of luck is made by our own actions.
We must always be aware of the fact that our behavior is a product of our history.
Patterns
Well known behaviors can be self reinforcing in and of themselves. There are some benefits to having a behavior be self reinforcing. One benefit of the self rewarded behavior is that we don’t need to exert a great deal of effort to make decisions, if we’ve developed a habit. Habits have behavioral momentum propelling them into the future. To change a habit be prepared to exert considerable effort to halt or change a behaviors course. Behaviors and habits are altered by changing the future with novel actions today. The new behavior doesn’t need to be entirely novel, but it does need to be new relative to the change desired.
We change behaviors by interrupting old ways of behaving with new behaviors. This is the art of replacing ineffective behavior patterns with more useful ones.
Behavioral habits can be helpful and they can also get in the way of progress. If we’re only driven by emotion we’ll never know which is driving our behavior. Is our behavior controlled by the fear of change, the effectiveness of our actions, or the need to change? We must keep in mind that the only thing that’s constant is change. Environmental changes need to be met with changes in behavior.
“There is a rhythm to everything” the difficult part is to know the right rhythm
Time is one of the most important resources we have. How we spend our time impacts not only our own lives, but the lives of others as well.
“Time is the context in which we accomplish our purposes. Whatever you do, you are trading part of your life for the experience.” From the RenChenZa® 7 Step program © 2000 –2009 Andrew Ledford
Wishing you the very best in dogs and in life,
Andrew Ledford