A question

Changing our daily habits is a challenge. It is inconvenient and uncomfortable, but most often we know it will ultimately make us feel better about ourselves in countless ways.

Uncomfortable or not, at least most of us are free and we have a choice. We can choose to act in a way that reflects the kind of person we want to be, or we can follow all of our urges, patterns, and traditions without thinking, without trying to grow. All of us make bad choices. But I’m convinced it is better to make a hundred different mistakes and not repeat them than to make the same mistake over and over again. Of course, it is easier to regret a single decision we have made, and try and do better when something similar happens again, than to admit to ourselves that we regret a choice we have made daily for as long as we can remember.

It requires a lot of introspection and willpower to change. It requires courage to admit to ourselves that we have chosen to ignore the suffering around us, only because we were too stubborn or lethargic to change our habits. But wouldn’t you rather feel empowered, knowing you’re choosing to do the right thing, than enjoy something with a guilty aftertaste, knowing that your brief enjoyment is intrinsically linked to another being’s suffering?

 

– Lisa R Timmermann