Dissecting Quotes #5

        This is the fifth edition of the series "Dissecting Quotes", where I choose a quote and briefly describe what I think the quote means and how to apply it to our everyday lives. I hope the insight a high schooler can provide can help brighten a day or get you thinking.

"Begin to be now what you will hereafter."

-William James

          Change is hard. I grew up being home schooled, and then for high school I jumped right into an environment I had never been apart of. It was a big change, but a change for the better. According to William James, a notable psychologist, the easiest way to change is to act how you want to act. The first part of the quote, "Begin to be now," describes how if we want to change, we must start at that instant. Putting off change will never change anything except make you more lazy. What will happen to us if we start to change is said in the second part of the quote, "what you will hereafter." If we start to act how we want to act, it will be easy to change. This reminds me of when I was little, I would have a hard time falling asleep. My parents used to come into my room, and to get them not to talk to me, I would pretend I was asleep. It usually worked, not only did my parents not talk to me, but I fell asleep. I hope that if any of us want to change, we will realize we have to start today.