The Force of Habits

Two of my daughters (Brittany and Stephany) and I were on our feet all day yesterday.  I don’t think there was a store in a 50 mile radius that we didn’t comb through.  We were Christmas shopping for loved ones and wanted just the right things.  Unfortunately, just the right things take a lot of thought and even more footwork.

Anyway, when we finally drug in, you could see the exhaustion on our faces.  We each looked like a hot bath and warm bed were the only reasonable things left.  But, instead we each (almost automatically) went about our evening routines, rights, and passages.  One signed on to check her e-mail, invite her IMs to spring forth, and to see how many hundreds of visitors her Justin Timberlake website had entertained while she was away.  Another worked on putting her stuff away, then repairing what the cold rain had done to her hair.  Kentucky Rain is a beautiful song, but not such a beautiful experience when it’s this cold.

The third wet rat…that would be this one….automatically went about her evening routine.  Gathering pots, pans, spices, and foodto fix supper as well as a Monday night Football snack.  It struck me as kind of funny that we each went about our routines without even thinking about it.  But that’s the way we fall into habits, whether they’re good ones or whether they’re bad.

——————–

habit (noun) - an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary

——————–

Almost involuntary. Incredibly true, is it not? 

Today, notice how many things you do or say that seem almost involuntary.  These are the Habits that are, to a very real degree, determining the quality of our days and the course of our life.  If neither is what we want them to be, this is the first place we need to look.  After all, if we’re doing certain things almost involuntarily - they have become us and we have become them.  If it’s something you don’t want to “be as one” with anymore, refuse to take it into 2007 with you.

By the same token, if there are things you wish WERE habitiual for you - there’s no time like the present to start.  I’ve written about it before, experts say that it takes 6 weeks to form a new habit or break an old one.  Just think - if we start today, we can be rid of an old one or the proud owner of a new one before Valentine’s Day.

Wouldn’t that be love-ly?!