BEATING THAT HABIT

Every human once had something they tried so hard to overcome. For many they are still in the process of trying. But it's like breathing; we all have that in common. Everybody has a habit they want to excise out of their life. You might not know because some of us are really great at hiding things with a straight face, but fact is every individual in the world struggles - just at different things and in differing degrees. 

I've seen the best of men become the worst in a blink of an eye because of rage. I've heard the unthinkable from those you would never think such of. What that means is that we are much alike than we are different, and that the only thing that separates each of us are the choices we make afterward.

Mistakes are a part of life. The only problem is that some are so addictive that they grow from being mistakes to becoming a lifestyle. And this is where many people fail. It's not a problem if a man falls as long as he gets up, but it starts to become a problem if he keeps falling because there is not always the guarantee that the next time it happens he would have the chance to stand again. When the Bible says the righteous fall seven times and rises again, it wasn't encouraging carelessness.  It wasn't speaking of a willful descent. You can't knowingly put yourself in a situation that locks you up in the pit of misery and believe that you would always stand a chance at climbing out eventually. The only way to stay out of such a pit is to avoid falling. And as much as that may seem difficult, it is the truest way to beating that habit.

I don't know what it is you might be struggling with. I don't know the addiction. Regardless of its nomenclature they are the same. Its goal is to waste your potentials. To make you less of the person you could have been. In simpler terms: to kill, to steal and to destroy. Addictions to bad habits are how the devil gets us to act like him. Because he knows that it would take pride to convince yourself that you are alright regardless of how much people tell you to stop because you aren't, which is exactly what led to his complete irredeemable downfall. Which is in totality what he wants for each of us. But we can't let him win. And letting that bad habit win is synonymous to letting the devil win. You see, bad habits aren't genies in bottles, they are devils in bodies. They don't grant you a wish or make you better, they sprout the worst part of yourself and fertilise your lusts into fruition. That's why they are a principal precursor for death and destruction.

Thus, I'm here to tell you to fight. I have to fight too. I haven't written a blog here in more than six months and that's on me. But as said in the beginning it's because everyone is fighting some demon. The names might differ, but their ways are the same irrespective of means. That's why we can't stop fighting. God doesn't want us to stop fighting. I once learned that no man or woman can be saved unless he sees the need for salvation at some point in his or her life. God can't force you to be a better version of yourself, He can only lead you if you are willing to follow. That is, God can only help us as much as we accept that help is needed. This is why you can't get too comfortable with falling back into sin. Into that act that brings out the worst in you. You have to fight. And in fighting you need to win.

However, here's a much greater reason why you need to win: Life is too short to be doing the wrong thing twice. It's okay to make mistakes because that's how we learn often, but when within your means try not to. Every minute given to starting all over again is a minute that could have gone toward the art of perfection. In other words, you don't have to stay in Egypt or the wilderness any longer than you should, but if you keep falling and rising and falling again you might spend generations of precious moments at a spot you were meant to outgrow since day one.

Hence, be disciplined. Trust God, and also trust yourself. Love yourself enough to know what makes you better and what makes you break. Then stick to better. Stick to what makes you more of the person you desire to be. I'll be doing that from my end too, and I hope at some point in life we can remember these words and smile because we overcame.