I have realized that there’s something that drives me to do the things that I do, and let go of the things that I don’t.
For example, I am an advocate for open source software, like the gimp and Inkscape, when the rest of my creative friends bemoan my choice over adobe products, saying that they could not get their work done without them. The reason is clearer to me now why I can.
I am an advocate for calorie counting and whole foods and vegetarianism and light exercise, like walking. Many of my friends think that calorie counting is too much work for them, that whole foods are bland and tasteless and that they could not possibly adopt the lifestyle, or that they could never live without meat. They feel that you can’t get proper exercise outside of a gym. I have evidence to the contrary.
I use a Chromebook, and feel that I am working towards a chromebook- and mobile-only computing style. I still have some needs, such as archival storage, video editing, and DVR that will keep me tethered at some times to a traditional desktop or server, for now, but that is changing. My friends say that they couldn’t get by without their tower.
I gave up drinking in April of 2012. I believe that I will never drink again. I was not able to stop until I believed it was possible. Until I envisioned living without it successfully, I didn’t, and so I couldn’t. I have friends that are deep in the grip of alcoholism. They believe that there is no other way. This is obviously not true, and yet, they persist.
In the face of oppositional ideas, harder paths, and seemingly unobtainable goals, I believe that I can achieve, which makes it possible. When I don’t, I can’t. If you can’t bring yourself to believe that something is possible, that you will never gain the benefits from it, or that it’s not worth the effort or time, then you are assuredly right: you can’t in your mind, so you won’t in reality.
It is impossible to surprise yourself in your beliefs when you are both the non-believer and the non-actor. Though not guaranteed, it is possible if you believe that it can be. Until you can say out loud that you believe that you can, and believe it, you may want to hold off trying. Without belief, doing may be impossible.
One response I’ve gotten to this idea is that it is so hard to believe that which you do not. I would say that this perceived effort is a sign that belief is not likely at this time, and that when you are ready to believe, it will be easy. You will have some key evidence that the seemingly impossible is possible. The evidence may be the result of things going to far down the opposite path. You’ll have some break in the clouds to hold on to long enough to believe. Seize it — it’s the difference for me in acting and doing, or not.
