Sometimes one wants to change his or her own life in a dramatic way. The obvious fact here is that a sole desire to introduce significant changes is not enough. Moreover intelligence and wisdom are not enough too - when one want's to break a habit one needs to be strong.
You may suggest that you need the strength only to start changing your life and all the rest things will come easily, but such a thought proves to be a fallacy. After having successfully changed the things you wanted to change, when all the bridges seem burnt and the walls of smoke hide the unpleasant elements of your past - those same elements that you wanted to escape and forget - when you're relaxed and start enjoying the new life - when everything seems right and done, there comes a moment when you face a lack of confidence - a very simple question subtly rises from the distant depths of your mind. The question may sound like this:
"Have I done the right thing?"
However everything is still okay, because you quickly find an answer and feel happy and confident again. The only problem here is that from this particular moment a strange feeling accompanies you wherever you go. You can barely explain what does it mean or where does it come from, but a little later it conquers you and then you can see that the feeling is fear.
It's the fear of leaving the lands you know perfectly and entering the lands you've never seen before. It turns you blind, pulls you back, prompts immediate, unconscious actions. That's why you need a lot of strength to change your life - you need to be strong mainly to fight the fear of leaving a well-known road and such a fight is much harder than just making a first step off the track.
Your own strength should keep you aware and prepared for the fight. This same strength should keep your eyes wide-open and mind clear - it is the only thing that can stop you from turning back when the fear fills you. Breaking a habit is not an easy task and accomplishment of such a task is a sign of a major inner strength.
However one should remember that the habits and the fears are means serving to protect a human being from harmful changes, but I am sure that one should better use his or her experience and clear mind for this purpose.