Every habit starts with a decision. That is all it is...one same decision made over and over again.
When you’re at the very beginning of a new habit or routine and you look down the daunting string of daily repetition of decision making to come, it can begin to feel overwhelming. And the weight of repetition can crush you from that perspective.
A habit is a decision that you make today and tomorrow and then next day…forever.
But as painful and overwhelming as the weight of decision can feel on the first day, that first time, it won’t always be that hard. Because…
Each decision you make, will make a future decision easier.
No matter what path you take, left of right or indecisions, every decision made will make another decision easier the next time…which decision do you want that to be?
Make the decision you want to be the easier choice next time.
Make the decision you want to be come default.
Make the decision that is the first step on a path you want to travel.
Make the decision you plan to make tomorrow, next week, next year.
Make that decision today.
Because if you don’t make that decision today, you are making that decision harder for tomorrow. If you don’t make that decision now, you are instead making the opposite decision…a decision you plan to reverse later anyways or that you know is wrong or that is one step closer to a far worse decision that you never plan on making but are heading toward nonetheless.
And it might sound dramatic, but it’s true. Each decision you make is a step on a path, one direction or the other, with all the implications that lie farther down that decision pathway.
In the moment of difficulty…
In the moment of pause before action...
In the moment of putting off a decision…
…in those moments, we tend to rationalize and minimize the importance of the choice before us. We forget that each action we take or choose not to take in turn makes the next decision in that same direction a little easier to make.
I want to remind myself of this as I stare at my ringing alarm clock wishing for more sleep, as I feel the angry words rising hot in my throat, as I reach for a distraction when I really need Jesus. In the hard moments, in the decision making moments of life, I want to remember that how I make the little decisions before me will impact the way I make those same decisions the next time and the next and the next.
Make the decision you want to be the easier choice next time.
Perhaps you find yourself down a long path of bad decision making already. You’re looking back sad and overwhelmed and realizing how far the journey back will be…
Remember, there is grace for past mistakes and there is strength not our own to be found in Jesus.
So take the grace and strength that is offered you and make the decision that you want to be easier tomorrow and the next day and the next.
What little decisions are facing you today? What paths do you find yourself on that you are thankful for? What paths are you on that you wish you’d never started down?
Be blessed
