Monday, September 23, 2013

Habit

Monday Mornings don’t feel complete without time tapping away at my computer, screen-scribbling my thoughts in five hundred words or less.  This activity began as a tool for me to create repeatable behavior that would keep me writing on a regular basis. When longer projects are too lofty, wordsmithing finds a fun, first of the week outlet.  When time feels limited or the thought of “what to write about” is looming large I release to just one word and get started.  This blog was intended to form a habit of regular written expression.
The noun habit defined in several entries at dictionary.com.  I share the following six.
1.  an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary
2.  customary practice
3.  a particular practice, custom, or usage
4.  a dominant or regular disposition or tendency; prevailing character or quality
5.  addiction, especially to narcotics
6.  garb of a particular rank, profession, religious order, etc. such as a monk’s habit
I have the habit of eating breakfast.  I also have the habit of sighing audibly upon arriving in a living room littered with abandoned toys and books.  I have a habit of using food to fill empty spaces in my body that have nothing to do with my stomach or hunger.  I have the customary practice of arranging my clothing by color.  My behavior pattern includes brushing my teeth, regular trips to the library, daily vitamins and yoga. 
Humans are rightly apt to deem some behavior as a “good” or “bad” habit. Indeed habits can both benefit and harm us.  But even a noble custom, like a regular meditation practice, can become a problem if I choose to meditate during the time I have committed to pick my children up from school.  A glass of wine may be just the perfect thing to round out a meal but it can also become an addiction. 
Life is an opportunity for us to watch ourselves, to choose our habits and to let them go as we see necessary.  Habits shape our days.  Addiction and excessive aversion come to the human being so easily.  Only in wearing the habit of a self-watcher can we intentionally form and free ourselves from acquired behavior.  We can choose our customary practices and decide our actions.  We must look at ourselves with love and guide ourselves gently, starting whatever small changes we can muster in making habits that bring us joy, health, and balance. 
 
We are what we repeatedly do. 
Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. 
                                        - Aristotle
 
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habit.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
                                        - Lao Tzu