Change Comes With…

After reading Atomic Habits, by James Clear, I purposefully subscribed to his newsletter — something I never do. My inbox is full of noisy marketing emails from companies that were offering 10% off on your first order which I am diligently clearing out, so the idea of intentionally inviting another email to the mess didn’t really make sense, but the value was too undeniable to pass up. I’d unsubscribe to 20+ emails a day to keep the James Clear newsletter coming.

Once a week on Thursdays he shares, “The most wisdom per word of any newsletter on the web,” with “3 thoughts, 2 ideas, and 1 question to consider this week…”.

A recent though he shared gave me new perspective as we’ve started studying the Old Testament individually and as a family for this year. He said this,

"Life rarely changes in a positive way without an increase in responsibility. That can mean taking ownership of your health or committing to a relationship or starting a business. Whatever it is, if you want the trajectory to change, the amount of responsibility usually has to change."

Adam and Eve, in the garden, walking and talking with God who wanted so much more for them and for all of us. There would be change and with that would come ever-increasing responsibility. I can picture Adam and Eve (and all of us waiting in heaven) saying, “Yes! This is a great plan. I want to change, and learn and grow, and sure, I’ll take on all the responsibility that comes with that!”

They knew, and we knew, but from an outside-looking-in sort of way. It’s like the same way I knew that carrying and having a baby would be difficult before I actually went through it. Or how I know that death of a close loved one will be impossibly shattering but I haven’t experienced it yet.