The Myth: When You Know Better, You Do Better

We've all heard the saying, "when you know better you do better."

While it's true that this can happen, it isn't always true.

I'll use myself as an example.

For years I lived on autopilot. I was reacting not responding to whatever life threw my way. I was mindlessly barging ahead paying no attention to the "me" in the process.

Things took a turn for the better when I started learning about, and practicing, mindfulness, self-love and self-care.

I started feeling more like a participant in life, rather than a victim of it. I started feeling better emotionally, physically and spiritually.

I knew better, and I was doing better.

The key word there is DOING.

Knowledge in and of itself is great, but unless there is a concerted effort and action to use that knowledge, it's virtually useless.

Some days I get busy. Some days I get lazy. Some days I feel despair. Sometimes on those days, I let my mindfulness and self-care practices slide. I'll skip a meditation session, eat or drink something that is terrible for me, decide not to go to the gym, sleep weird hours.

The more I don't use the "mindfulness tool kit" that I have built myself, the worse I feel, and the less apt I am to pick it up again.

I KNOW BETTER. But yet, I don't always DO better.

That treadmill sitting in your corner with clothes drying on it, isn't going to get you in shape, just because you purchased it.

Likewise, all the knowledge in the world, means nothing unless we implement it.

Sometimes, we won't do better, even though we know better, and that is okay. We are human after all. When we slip up, or fall off, the key is to be easy and gentle with ourselves and start again.