Of all the impediments to spiritual, mental and physical development in the individual, none is more hobbling than faults which were allowed to become habits during childhood and early adulthood. In fact, it is much more difficult to break old, self-destructive habits than it is to form new, constructive ones.
To move forward, you must alternate your work between refining old habits and forming new ones. Just focusing on forming new, “good” habits doesn’t work because you will eventually be undone by the old, “bad” habits. Likewise, simply focusing on cleaning up the “bad” established habits without attending to the expansion of your personal borders will eventually leave you extremely well-prepared for a world that no longer exists.
If your experience is anything like mine, you will typically discover the old habits while taking new ground, learning new things and leaning into the far reaches of your present personal envelope of capability. The “holes” in your character and the “cracks” in your foundational understanding will rear their ugly heads when the pressure comes on…and that is a good thing, for the simple reason that it is much easier to fix a problem when it is in plain sight than when it is hidden from view.
Gregory Hake 
It can be so easy to find strategies for avoidance of activities that will expose limited or outdated habits. As you indicate here,however, a great strategy can be to welcome those kinds of challenging activities or explorations, both for what they show must be released and also for what can now be developed. Releasing the old does make room for the new, although that can leave a somewhat awkward gap on occasion – something else not to avoid but to accept and to understand!
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Thanks for your inspirational posts and shedding light on what we all perceive as personal struggles, allowing us to truly see that we all have so much in common . Though the paths of our lives are different, we are not alone as we strive to become the radiant beings we were designed to be. I have found that as each weakness that has been discovered through the processes of maturing, as I maintain the right attitude and avoid feeling sorry for myself, those areas become shores up and the world reveals itself to me in a new light each time. Wisdom revealed! Thank you!
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That certainly is one of the upsides of being in a pressure full situation, you get to see your own weak spots. In my experience, correcting for a realized immaturity has usually opened the way for new interests; perhaps it has something to do with putting away childish things. I think that often the fault was not corrected by the parents because they never matured in the particular area either. A change in one person could inspire an entire family to move forward.
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Thanks Gregg,
You make moving forward fun! And that is a good thing.
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Yes it can be humorous to see the cracks as we are moving forward letting our understanding fill in for use in our present circumstances now.
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