The idea that we have to eliminate things in order to get to what's important has always been a popular notion, but few people put it into action. The reason seems obvious to me: We want more, not less. And wow, isn't the process fun? Look how much hay you have to go through to find that needle. (Why anybody is looking for a needle in a haystack is beyond me. Do farmers mend clothes while they're out gathering hay? And don't they have other needles?)
I recently read something wise. If you want to lose weight by eating right, which I do, it's better to concentrate on avoiding bad foods than trying to figure out what the good foods are. Once you have eliminated the bad foods, what's left? Answer: The stuff you should be eating.
But I'm not talking only about diet here. I rarely am just talking about one thing, because so much can be adapted to many areas of life. Two hours a day spent watching TV, when eliminated, can become two hours of time with the family, or two hours of reading a good book. But the fact is, people sit in front of their TVs because it's what they want to do.
I just realized that a lot of what I talk about concerns the fulfillment of goals and dreams. Big shock there, I have some pretty lofty dreams, and I plan to make them come true. I want an abundance of the good things life has to offer, and I will never see that happen by retaining the bad habits, the things that block success. They must all go. All of them.
A few days ago I was talking to a couple of smokers. They threw this popular excuse at me: Whenever someone quits smoking, they always gain weight, so it's better to be a smoker. This is one for the stupid belief Hall of Fame. It doesn't even matter if it's true. What the person is saying is that he is not strong enough to be different, to actually replace a bad habit with a good one.
I understand that it's not easy, it sure isn't for me, but I have an intense need to get what I want, and I know nobody is going to give it to me. People have to occasionally close their eyes and see the possibilities before them, hold the image in their minds of what they want life to be. Do that enough times, and the image becomes real enough to propel you forward. Real enough for you to decide to limit the frivolous activities, and start living. Watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" with your hand in a bag of Cheetos is not living.
Stop looking at what you're losing. Maybe the word "eliminate" is inappropriate, because while you're doing that, what you're really doing is allowing all the good things to proliferate. When the bad things are gone, something has to fill the vacuum.
Remove the things that hold you back, and what's left? The things that really matter.
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