The Artdog Quote of the Week

I don’t know whether last Friday’s post about the Library Liberation Project shows me to be a good example (cleaning up at last!) or a horrible warning (watch out, or this could be you!).

Either way, it’s set my January “workout routine.” From the look of things, I’ll be “pumping boxes” and hauling stuff regularly for a while.

This image depicts the author herself, with a pair of handcuffs, and the quote, "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."

A broken tradition

It’s traditional to make New Year’s resolutions to improve this or that about one’s life. But it’s also traditional to break New Year’s resolutions. There’s almost a sense of doom about the exercise from the get-go.

Some people skirt the issue by calling them something else, such as “goals.” Perhaps that changes their mind-set enough that it works for them, perhaps not. Goodness knows it’s hard to make major changes in one’s habits, no matter what we call the process, and no matter how life-threatening the thing we’re trying to change (such as stopping an addictive behavior, losing weight, or improving fitness).

This "EE Card" reads, "I can't believe it's been a year since I didn't become a better person."

The general consensus of advice columns, articles, and blog posts comes down principles we’ve all heard before: persistent baby steps, not big flashy changes we can’t sustain, are more likely to result in real improvement.

But change is possible, right?

Yes, change is definitely possible. Not only is it possible, but it’s inevitable. Positive change after negative actions is hard, but it’s possible, too. The past doesn’t have to doom the future. 

Otherwise, no education would ever prepare us, no addict would ever recover, and recidivism after prison would always be 100%. We all make mistakes, missteps, blunders. What we learn from them, and how we change our behavior as a result of them, is what makes the crucial difference.

This illustrated quote from Mark Twain reads, "Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions."

As time goes on, I guess we’ll see what sort of omen I’ll turn into. Meanwhile, I probably should sample some Catherine Aird mysteries (the author looks as if she has personality to spare).

IMAGE CREDITS: The photo of Catherine Aird is courtesy of her Goodreads page and her website. The illustrated quote is from me, Jan S. Gephardt, using Adobe Illustrator (reblog or re-post freely, but please attribute it to me, and link back to this post!). The “ee card” about not becoming a better person is from some ee cards New Year’s memes. Many thanks to them, and also to QuoteFancy, for the Mark Twain quote. Thank you and happy New Year to all!