(5 of 5)
In fairness, that is the nature of all of us. Human beings can be remarkably static creatures; it's practically woven into our DNA. Why move from the familiarity of the campfire circle and step into the scary wilderness, even if wonderful, life-giving things might be there? Doctors, however, like to look at things another way. To us, life is never static. Everything is either growing or dying. When you delay your diet until tomorrow or wait to quit smoking until your next birthday, you are choosing, in a day-to-day way, to follow the route of the dying.
Taking action, of course, is the very hardest of the transtheoretical steps--the moment you stand up from the campfire, dust off your pants and begin walking toward the woods. Difficult as it is, though, it can be the start of an inexorable forward momentum. As Newton taught, a body in motion stays in motion. I often remind my patients of a favorite and familiar riddle: If you see 10 birds on a wire and five decide to fly, how many are left? The answer is 10. Deciding and doing are not the same.
I learned that fact anew at the base of that pole in Arizona. I traveled west that day having already decided to climb the blasted thing. But I hadn't done anything at all until I actually put my foot on the lowest rung.