You’ve undoubtedly heard “Take it one day at a time” since you could barely walk (or may even before). It’s good advice, but it’s really not that helpful. Yes, you need to take it one day at a time, but that day is filled with 1440 minutes, any of which could be your undoing.
Are you addicted to something destructive? Probably most people are: to drugs, food, tobacco, alcohol, sex, or some other addiction we may not even have ever heard of. If you know that you are addicted, and you want to kick whatever your destructive habit is, you must fight it. How do you fight an addiction like that? The answer, of course, is you must win every minute, one minute at a time. The thing you are addicted to is all around you, waiting for you. You must summon up the strength to resist it. But the good news is that strength only needs to last a minute. Then the craving will wane — until the next minute.
Are you addicted to something positive? Many people are: to exercise, to eating healthily, to making the football team, to giving a loved one proper care, to curing an injury through rehabilitation, and many, many other other types of positive addictions. How do you stay committed to your goal, even though you may be so tired you can barely move, or desperately crave a Hershey bar or a french fry? The answer, of course, is you must win every minute, one minute at a time. It’s so easy to just give in — stay in bed instead of getting up for your run, go have a beer instead of doing 100 more reps at the gym, watch TV instead of writing that report. You must summon up the strength to resist. But the good news is that strength only needs to last a minute. Then the craving will wane — until the next minute.
Maybe life has let you down. You’ve lost a child — a heartbreaking event. Your house burned down. Your wife or husband has left you. You’ve been fired. Life no longer seems worth living. How do you deal with that kind of problem? The answer, of course, is for that despair you substitute the will to go on — one minute at a time.
Trust me. I’ve been there. i stopped smoking after 40 years. I stopped abusing alcohol. I lost my son to cancer when he was almost six years old, after two and a half years of trips to the hospital for surgeries, chemotherapy, and other treatment. Some time later, my wife’s heart stopped while giving birth, and the doctors gave her up for dead. Except she astonished them by coming back to life. She was in a coma for weeks, and when she finally reawakened, her memory was gone, she didn’t recognize me or any of her other children. So I had to take care of four kids, their mother, and keep my job so we could afford to live. How did I do that? By winning one minute at a time, telling myself I could do it and that things would get better, which they did.
Some years later our wonderful new home burned to the ground. In 2016 I was laid off, at the age of 80. In February of this year my precious wife was told she had lung cancer, starting literally hundred of trips to hospitals and doctors for radiation, chemotherapy, CAT scans, and MRI’s. Thank God she’s getting better. But now, because of all the medical expenses and the lack of additional income, we’ll probably lose our home. Another huge challenge.
I’m not telling you all this so you’ll feel sorry for me. I’m telling you because I have been through more tragedies than most people ever know. And I’m still here. And I’m still working on winning one minute at a time. If I can do that, you can, too. Because there’s nothing special about me; I don’t have anything you don’t have.
The fact is, you can change your life. First you have to want to. Then you have to do it, by winning one minute at a time. The key is to choose a way to win it, and concentrate on it. I’ve been lucky in that way; I’ve always had someone dependent on me, so I couldn’t just curl up in a ball and tell my problems to go away, or turn to alcohol or drugs. Knowing other lives were so dependent on mine helped me win all those minutes. We’ll talk more about that as this site develops.
Read the short poem I’ve written. You’ll find it under “Our Core Strategy.” You’ll find it on the home page, here. It will help.