I Walk Down a Different Street...

Autobiography in Five Chapters 

 1) I walk down the street.

 There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. 

 I am lost … I am hopeless.

 It isn’t my fault. 

 It takes forever to find a way out. 

 2) I walk down the same street. 

 There is a hole in the sidewalk. 

 I pretend I don’t see it.

 I fall in again. 

 I can’t believe I am in the same place. 

 But it isn’t my fault. 

 It still takes a long time to get out.

 3) I walk down the same street. 

 There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. 

 I see it there.

 I still fall in … it’s a habit.

 My eyes are open I knowwhere I am.

 It is my fault. I get out immediately.

 4) I walk down the same street. 

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it. 

 5) I walk down another street. 

 - Excerpt from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche 

We all have bad habits.  Whether they come in the form of cheeseburgers, cigarettes, unhealthy relationships, or biting our nails, we know that our lives would be better if we stopped, but we just can't seem to do it.  Sometimes we use excuses like stress or unhappiness or bad luck to explain away our actions so we can put the responsibility on something else other than ourselves.  We beat ourselves up for being so weak.  

Sogyal Rinpoche tells us that bad habits are human nature.  We all have the potential for them, but we all also have the strength within us to let them go.  It may take days, weeks, or years, but the key is seeing your habit and understanding that it is fully within your power to continue or stop it.  By taking responsibility for habits and refusing to be a victim to circumstances, we assume great power to overcome any obstacle, especially the habit.

This auto-biography also tells us that the process of avoiding the hole and choosing a different path takes awhile.  We all remember the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray must live February 2nd over and over again until he fixes the bad habits in his life. That is a full feature film of worth of falling into a hole and figuring out how to get out, only to fall in again.

But just like Bill eventually figured it out and could finally move onto February 3rd, with dedication, personal responsibility, and inner-stregnth, we all have the power to re-train ourselves to avoid our own potholes and walk down a healthier, happier street.