Teach Me To Change My Stripes

Years ago, I was a lost boy traveling an endless dirt road that had no foreseeable ending. And because it had gone on so long, everyone around me had began to think it was a permanent change. In doing so, I began to believe it as well. Even more, the thought of going through all the work in order to change myself seems to be an insurmountable challenge. After all I’ve been told you can’t change your stripes.

But there was a little sliver of hope inside of me that wanted to prove that that idea was wrong. I was a depressed, 265lb, lost cause. But something inside of me pushed me one step ahead and only worried about that one step. But that wouldn’t be enough to change my stripes. I needed a bigger motivation.

It finally came to me when I realized how selfish it was to remain the same. I wasn’t giving my friends my best, my family my all, or my work the time it deserved. And the thing was, there were some people in my life giving me their all in spite of what I wasn’t doing.

I knew from there on, that I might not be able to change my stripes solely for me, but maybe, if I kept all those people in my life in mind, that I could do it successfully. And you know what, it was the golden ticket to a new and satisfying life.

Over time, I got healthy. I went down to 190lbs, and I allowed the depression to take it’s course and found that at the end of that tunnel was the warmth of the sun and loving people under it. My passions came back, and slowly but surely, I pursued them and found more hope in them. And lastly, I finally opened up the dudgeons of my mind and let others in.

All this to say, you CAN change your stripes. It may take two years of hard work that might even seem useless at certain points, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Believe you can make a change. Believe you can be better. Believe there is a reason to change. And if you can’t even do that, then look around at the way others around you are being short changed because of the way your life is, and do it for them.

If you can’t motivate yourself, let others do it for you. Push hard and allow yourself to finally let go of all of that selfishness. When you do, you would be surprised how quickly those stripes of yours do change.