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Cold Turkey

Cold Turkey

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Cold Turkey--two turkeys in the snowI love to eat cold turkey. However, I hate to quit a habit cold turkey.

To stop a habit immediately and completely usually hurts.

Cold turkey means no slow withdrawal. Instead, we tackle the problem all at once.

Few of us enjoy giving up anything that has been part of our lives a long time. Although it may be bad for us, we have a hard time letting go.

Addictions are especially hard to quit cold turkey.

For that reason, support groups exist for addictions to:

  • Alcohol
  • Drugs
  • Gambling
  • Eating
  • Plus, a long list of other behaviors

Support group members talk turkey. Speaking plain hard facts encourages hard, but needed, actions.

Support groups remind us to help one another in all of life.

We may not suffer addiction. Yet, we all need encouragement to make good choices. We also need guidance back to the straight and narrow when we choose poorly.

While we enjoy our post-Thanksgiving cold turkey sandwiches, think:

  • Why wait until the new year to begin better habits?
  • Perhaps now is our best time to quit bad habits once for all.

“Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall” (Ezekiel 18:30 NIV).

Thanks to Tim Lewis  for the suggestion. Photo courtesy of Robert Jones on Pixabay.

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Let Things Slide

Let Things Slide

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Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens

Why bother doing a good job, if it’s a chore we hate, right? Wrong! We all face the temptation to let things slide, especially if no one sees us.

Why not neglect our responsibilities and have a little fun? Work seems less important if we want to do something else. The longer the job takes, the worse the temptation.

Do any of these excuses sound familiar?

  • “Nobody ever looks under the bed, so why sweep there?”
  • “The boss doesn’t like me, so why do his senseless work?”
  • “Why should I care? No one else does.”

The longer we dwell on such thoughts, the more our excuses grow.

Quite honestly, few people look under the bed. Sometimes the boss doesn’t like us and gives us senseless work. And people don’t always care.

But does that justify less than our best?

We will know:

  • Dirt is under the bed.
  • The assigned task wasn’t done.
  • We cared no more than anyone else.

Once we make a bad habit, it’s hard to break. Like the pressure of a volcano, it grows worse and worse. Sometimes the results are tragic.

Therefore, let’s do our work well. We will feel better about it. Plus, we gain a good reputation.

The easy way does not always equal the best way. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Ecclesiastes
9:10 NIV).

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Photo courtesy of morgueFile.