Change is on the inside

Michael Jackson wrote a song called "Man in the Mirror" In the chorus he sings: 

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Today I am challenged by the idea that I have a lot of clutter in my life that keeps me from being effective. Meaning, I get distracted or burdened by something on the inside.

There are times when people get depressed. I've been there. Until you are there, you have no idea what it is like. You can't just snap your fingers and make it go away.

What is equally true is that it is very difficult to be lovable when you are depressed. It is like  compounding interest, it just keeps piling up. People don't want to help you because, well, you are depressing.

The only way out is to make a change inside. It has to be small at first, but then it can grow. You have to stop doing what feeds the negative and start doing what feeds the positive. NO MATTER HOW HARD.

You must be willing to do hard things in order to make changes. 

The beauty is, once you make a change, once you clean out the clutter, once you live a life worth emulating, then you can actually become someone who helps others out of the same trap.