Consistency Is Key

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit."

                        - Aristotle

I read somewhere once that consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness. That one line stayed in my consciousness long enough to make me reexamine my patterns. If consistency really is the key to success then patterns are the key to understanding. For me, the understanding came in the form of the person I had become. When one listens closely to the way friends and family describe them, they begin to get a picture of who they are in the world's eyes. I started to focus on how I was viewed based on the actions I did repeatedly. There were many references to seeing a life lesson in every thing and the consistently expected  reminders about the fact that there's a solution to every problem. In fact, some descriptions of me seemed  as if the consistency  might be equivalent to boring or even annoying. When I tested the waters by trying to shake up my reputation of consistency it was met with resistance. When I suggested  that the family explore  a new holiday venue, the response was no you can't change that .  My niece  told me  that was the only constant in her life. Imagine how I felt about my consistency then. It seems it had painted me into a box. In the realm of behavior , it is clear that consistent positive habits or patterns yield successful results. Whereas, if we are consistent  with negative habits, it yields negative results . Few,would argue against this idea. Therefore, as we journey through this fall season, let us observe the things we are consistent with and analyze what they convey about us. Some of us may be consistent with new ideas and fresh starts but rarely persistent with finishing. We talk swapping our  consistent bad habits for new, healthier more productive ones , but our game plan never seems to get off the ground unless we commit to working at it consistently. Are we feeling the theme? What you do everyday matters more than what you do every once in awhile. Until 7 sunsets. Lym ( leave your mark)positively and consistently.

-Mama LYM