Ever been there?

At some time in your life,(for me starting around 45,) you notice that you have relatively little control over what goes on outside your self. So you look for introspective changes you can make to experience the illusion of control. The one area where you are freely able to exercise change is "self". Some changes are are easy to make - shall I have an Ultimate Cheeseburger? Shall I smoke? Shall I drink excessively? Shall I spend a large percentage of my life in a world that exists solely on a large computer screen? Going down that road is easy, the benefits are simple and quick, but "easy" never produces good results long term.
On the other hand, the changes that do affect you in a positive, long term manner are almost never easy, but the rewards of these changes can be suprising. You set a goal and by striving to achieve it you notice other tangible benefits that were not in your plan. About 5 years ago, I quit smoking. I still think "You don't understand, I QUIT SMOKING!" The first part of that change was hard - keeping the commitment is pretty easy now, but in the beginning it took some real grit and determination - now it takes not being stupid, (which can be just as challenging sometimes.)

Now I move on - a few years of drink and food, but getting the nico-monkey off my back was so worth it. All this complacency used to gather strength to keep the smoke-free commitment was visible - 60 pounds of fat. Eating to generate the endorphins that sooth my synapses was a short term fix - the side effects are increased joint pain, lowered endurance, self esteem, depression blah blah blah. Time to make a change, not just a "lose the weight" change, a life change - attitude, honesty, respect, self control.