Building Character? or Character Building?

How do you resist something that is so good, yet so bad for you? I feel as though I have finally made it to a place in my life where I am making good decisions on a consistent basis and it is finally getting easier to do so! I find that I must remind myself several times every day that I must trust the process and have faith in where this road will take me. But what happens when I am in one of those weaker moments (be it men, food, guilty pleasures, etc) and there is something—right in front of me—and I know that I must resist giving in to it, but it would be so easy to forget about the world and dive in. Then what?

Well, what I am slowly learning is I need to remind myself I have a “gut” for a reason. I have that inner voice for a reason telling me what is a good decision and what must be avoided. I have learned the hard way- far too many times to ignore the lessons learned, but what makes it so hard to be strong? What is it inside me that thrives on risky adventures? Is this something that I have cultivated over the past few years or something that has been a part of my life since I took my first step and decided running was better than walking?

Now that I am 25, it is painfully clear which decisions further my personal growth as opposed to those that do not. Yet, the temptation is always there. Consider the following: Is it not true to say the mistakes I have made in the past have lead to character building moments? And wouldn’t it also be true to say that through learning those lessons the hard way, I am the woman that I am today? Its almost a Catch-22 situation where I find myself wondering if you can prevent the inevitable or if you just have to live in the moment and react as best you can…