There are no fables here; change really does happen. A year ago about this time I had an abscessed tooth, and to much relief, it was yanked out of my head. And that was the symbolic start to a process of breaking things down, then later rebuilding them better than they were before.

It irks me when someone says, "People don't change" or "People cannot change". To believe that means that you are shutting yourself in a box forever.

So there was this time, when a figurative civil war had passed through and burned everything down, like the torching of Atlanta by Sherman's army. That's the best way to let something go that was comforting yet destructive; when it's gone and one is forced to put something in its place. That's the time when I dug through the ashes of what had been deconstructed, and found that which should not be rebuilt so I that could replace those things with something better. Such as those ingrained habits from childhood, those false beliefs I held about myself, those obligations I carried, and most of all, the anger that burdened me.

Making sweeping changes requires diligence and dedication, but I'm inclined to carrying through with my goals, even if they aren't the right ones. Dogged persistence has both its advantages and disadvantages.

What's funny is that once you get rid of some habits you didn't like, the experience is one of being a new person in some regards. I am still learning how to react to certain situations, what I choose to say and how I act. I'm making some new mistakes; I have some new quirks. I am not done yet. I hope that I will never be done.