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Today's
Meditation:
I
have a lot of habits, but I try to be aware of them.
Some of them are quite innocuous, like how I eat my
breakfast in the morning-- that's not a habit that I have
even the slightest desire to change. Others are
potentially worrisome in some ways. For example, I
try not to get into habits when I'm teaching, because if I
do, I may not try anything new in class. Some habits
are quite positive-- I try to make it a habit to read
positive, reflective works during certain times, and that
helps me to keep a positive perspective and to feel good
about life and living.
If I
allow my habits to control me, then I face the possibility
of losing control of my life-- and ironically, I would be
losing it to myself, to the side of me that's willing to
be complacent and to fall into ruts that don't help me to
grow and change. Rather, habits can keep me in
exactly the same state for long periods of time, and while
that may feel comfortable, comfort isn't what life is
about if we want to become better versions of
ourselves. We need to stretch our wings and try new
things if we're to continue to improve ourselves our
entire lives long.
Sometimes
it's difficult to recognize that I've even developed
habits. Do I treat my wife the same way all the
time? Do I have a habit of not taking her seriously,
or of only half- listening when she's telling me
something? Do I have a habit of doing some jobs not
very thoroughly because I don't see them as important,
even though other people may see them as very
important? Have I developed a habit of reacting
passively to news and events because I don't feel that I
have any power to have any effect?
We
tend to see habits as "good" or
"bad." There is more to it than that, of
course-- there always is. Are my habits helping me to
be a better person, or are they keeping me in my current
state, not allowing me to improve? That's the
question that I want to ask myself, because eventually
I'll be looking back on my life and I don't want to say,
"I never grew past that point because I allowed my
habits to control me, instead of me controlling
them."
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