In politics, the title phrase refers to the tactical method of accomplishing a goal by taking many tiny steps to reach the end, so that the "victims" don't notice what is happening. For instance, if one wanted to quietly repeal the 2nd Amendment, one way to do it is to progressively add more and more "minor" restrictions on gun ownership until eventually the right is effectively removed.
I'm not here to talk politics, though. Just to use the phrase. I've spent the last couple months now "recovering" from a series of ills. First, the prostate thing (better now, thank you), and then a lingering virus that seems to not quite want to go away. Plus there have been a number of work issues that have kept me quite busy, and the weather has been worse than normal for November.
The net effect is that I have not been able to commute at all lately. Nor have I been doing much exercising at all.
What does this have to do with "death by a thousand cuts?" Well, I've been observing my own behavior during this time, compared to the months prior when I was commuting regularly. It occurs to me that every day we make a series of decisions, the sum of which have a lasting effect on our well being. "What should I have for lunch?" "Walk or drive?" "Take the stairs or the elevator?" "Work out today or tomorrow?" "How about that night snack?"
Individually, none of these decisions are significant. One cookie, or one trip on the elevator is of no consequence in the grander scheme of things. Taken collectively, they can be literally life or death decisions. Over the course of a year, I'll decide what to eat well over a thousand times. I'll climb stairs or ride the elevator hundreds of times. These "little" decisions add up to a pattern of habits. These habits define, to an extent, who I am and what I become.
Since habits are formed as the sum of individual decisions, every decision becomes a life-or-death decision. Every decision can become a furtherance of the habits that have gotten you where you are, a way of preserving the status quo.
On the other hand, every decision becomes an opportunity to change the status quo. Every meal can be the first step toward a new habit. Every trip through the office door is a chance to choose the stairs. Every dawn is a new opportunity to become someone different. We are creatures of habit, but we can change those habits. The challenge is to recognize and seize the opportunity for that change.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What will it look like?
I'm not here to talk politics, though. Just to use the phrase. I've spent the last couple months now "recovering" from a series of ills. First, the prostate thing (better now, thank you), and then a lingering virus that seems to not quite want to go away. Plus there have been a number of work issues that have kept me quite busy, and the weather has been worse than normal for November.
The net effect is that I have not been able to commute at all lately. Nor have I been doing much exercising at all.
What does this have to do with "death by a thousand cuts?" Well, I've been observing my own behavior during this time, compared to the months prior when I was commuting regularly. It occurs to me that every day we make a series of decisions, the sum of which have a lasting effect on our well being. "What should I have for lunch?" "Walk or drive?" "Take the stairs or the elevator?" "Work out today or tomorrow?" "How about that night snack?"
Individually, none of these decisions are significant. One cookie, or one trip on the elevator is of no consequence in the grander scheme of things. Taken collectively, they can be literally life or death decisions. Over the course of a year, I'll decide what to eat well over a thousand times. I'll climb stairs or ride the elevator hundreds of times. These "little" decisions add up to a pattern of habits. These habits define, to an extent, who I am and what I become.
Since habits are formed as the sum of individual decisions, every decision becomes a life-or-death decision. Every decision can become a furtherance of the habits that have gotten you where you are, a way of preserving the status quo.
On the other hand, every decision becomes an opportunity to change the status quo. Every meal can be the first step toward a new habit. Every trip through the office door is a chance to choose the stairs. Every dawn is a new opportunity to become someone different. We are creatures of habit, but we can change those habits. The challenge is to recognize and seize the opportunity for that change.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What will it look like?
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