A 2018 edition of Business Insider contained an interesting article, which shared research (supplied by US News) reporting a staggering 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail before the end of February.
Are you surprised? I’m not.
Be that as it may, if you’re among the supposed multitudes dedicated to a diet, losing weight, getting fit, quitting a unhealthy habit or adding a healthier one, you make up a slim minority of people who depart from the majority of folk who just can’t seem to cut it.
Interestingly enough, the article shared that while there are multi-faceted reasons that point to why we can’t seem to keep resolutions, one basic reason is that, now more than ever before, we ‘lack the self-discipline to endure the transient discomfort of change.’
“The transient discomfort of change.” Fascinating. Not lingering, not lasting, but transient discomfort. You’ve heard it said that change occurs when the pain of remaining in the same place exceeds the discomfort of moving forward.
In so many words, the article reinforces a truth that is no revelation, really:
Short-term pain has the capacity to compromise long-term progress…
…and it does so because we who live in a microwave society have been shaped to expect everything instantly and we lack the ability to look beyond the immediate. The problem isn’t a new one, however. Our biblical forebears found it difficult to deal with transient discomfort:
- Lot’s wife became a salty mess when she took a lamenting look back at her old stomping grounds.
- A generation of Hebrew slaves were released from Egyptian captivity and incredulously begged to go back.
- After at least two death-defying, post-resurrective rendezvouses with Jesus, Peter falls back on the all-too-familiar fishing routine.
Why? The transient discomfort of change.
The prophet Zechariah quips, “Don’t despise the day of small beginnings (4:10).” Don’t despise the day of short-term pain either. Petering out early could prevent you experiencing tomorrow’s payoff.
Resolved,
Pastor Jake