Bad habits. We all have them. And around this time of year many of us even start thinking about setting our New Year\u2019s goals to help overcome them. Can you just imagine how amazing it would be if we had never formed our bad habits in the first place? Life would be so much better! Heaven knows it is far easier to create good habits in life then to break bad ones once they have formed.<\/p>\n
I love the poem below that was written by Joseph Malins. It perfectly illustrates the fact that it is so much better to build a fence that keeps us from falling off of a cliff than it is to try and rescue us once we have already fallen. I love it because you can apply to so many areas of life. You can apply it to overcoming bad habits, you can apply it to the importance of setting boundaries from your kids in order to prevent them from serious troubles, you can apply it to running a business and the importance of having clear policies and procedures for employees to follow, you can apply it to a million other areas of life\u2026all of which hold the same common lesson \u2013 We should focus our attention on setting good boundaries for ourselves upfront in order to prevent bad habits and behaviors from occurring in the first place. If we focus on prevention we won\u2019t need the cures.<\/p>\n
The Ambulance Down in the Valley<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed, But the cry for the ambulance carried the day, “For the cliff is all right, if you\u2019re careful,” they said, Then an old sage remarked: “It\u2019s a marvel to me “Oh he\u2019s a fanatic,” the others rejoined, But the sensible few, who are practical too, Better guide well the young than reclaim them when old, —————————————- Have a great Monday!<\/p>\n ~Amy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bad habits. We all have them. And around this time of year many of us even start thinking about setting our New Year\u2019s goals to help overcome them. Can you just imagine how amazing it would be if we had never formed our bad habits in the first place? Life would be so much better! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8071,501,500,1028,46,4601,251,4013,63,462,929,4602,536,8068,91,1151,8066,224,163,96,1775,8062,585,8067,83,171,218,4871,8074,189,7,364,365,76,8060,65,629,38,8072,5920,530,53,2019,330,791,8065,6437,8061,8073,6456,112,145,8069,1168,8070,149,8063,8064,78],"class_list":["post-6155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aim-at-prevention","tag-appreciate","tag-appreciation","tag-attention","tag-attitude","tag-bad-habits","tag-balance","tag-battle","tag-blessings","tag-boss","tag-boundaries","tag-breaking-bad-habits","tag-business","tag-careful","tag-change","tag-charity","tag-cliff","tag-confidence","tag-courage","tag-culture","tag-cure","tag-easier-to-create-good-habits","tag-employees","tag-emplyoees","tag-experience","tag-fail","tag-failure","tag-fall","tag-fanatic","tag-friends","tag-future","tag-goal","tag-goal-setting","tag-goals","tag-good-habits","tag-gratitude","tag-inspiration","tag-leadership","tag-mischief","tag-mishap","tag-mistake","tag-motivation","tag-neighbors","tag-new-year","tag-overcome","tag-overcoming-habits","tag-prevent","tag-prevention","tag-rally","tag-resolution","tag-self-improvement","tag-service","tag-slip","tag-stop","tag-stopping-the-cause","tag-success","tag-tackle","tag-the-ambulance-down-in-the-valley","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6156,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6155\/revisions\/6156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThough to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
\nBut over its terrible edge there had slipped
\nA duke and full many a peasant.
\nSo the people said something would have to be done,
\nBut their projects did not at all tally;
\nSome said, “Put a fence \u2019round the edge of the cliff,”
\nSome, “An ambulance down in the valley.”<\/p>\n
\nFor it spread through the neighboring city;
\nA fence may be useful or not, it is true,
\nBut each heart became full of pity
\nFor those who slipped over the dangerous cliff;
\nAnd the dwellers in highway and alley
\nGave pounds and gave pence, not to put up a fence,
\nBut an ambulance down in the valley.<\/p>\n
\n“And, if folks even slip and are dropping,
\nIt isn\u2019t the slipping that hurts them so much
\nAs the shock down below when they\u2019re stopping.”
\nSo day after day, as these mishaps occurred,
\nQuick forth would those rescuers sally
\nTo pick up the victims who fell off the cliff,
\nWith their ambulance down in the valley.<\/p>\n
\nThat people give far more attention
\nTo repairing results than to stopping the cause,
\nWhen they\u2019d much better aim at prevention.
\nLet us stop at its source all this mischief,” cried he,
\n“Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally;
\nIf the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense
\nWith the ambulance down in the valley.”<\/p>\n
\n“Dispense with the ambulance? Never!
\nHe\u2019d dispense with all charities, too, if he could;
\nNo! No! We\u2019ll support them forever.
\nAren\u2019t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall?
\nAnd shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?
\nWhy should people of sense stop to put up a fence,
\nWhile the ambulance works in the valley?”<\/p>\n
\nWill not bear with such nonsense much longer;
\nThey believe that prevention is better than cure,
\nAnd their party will soon be the stronger.
\nEncourage them then, with your purse, voice, and pen,
\nAnd while other philanthropists dally,
\nThey will scorn all pretense, and put up a stout fence
\nOn the cliff that hangs over the valley.<\/p>\n
\nFor the voice of true wisdom is calling.
\n“To rescue the fallen is good, but \u2019tis best
\nTo prevent other people from falling.”
\nBetter close up the source of temptation and crime
\nThan deliver from dungeon or galley;
\nBetter put a strong fence \u2019round the top of the cliff
\nThan an ambulance down in the valley.<\/p>\n
\nStart thinking now about the fences you can put up in your own life to help you avoid slipping into bad habits. Like I said, this time of year is the perfect time to refocus your efforts and decide what changes you want to make in your life as we head into a brand New Year ahead.<\/p>\n