Sunday, March 14, 2010

Habits

Habits, what are they?  Nuns wear them, druggies succumb to them...  What do you think of when you hear that word?  Is a habit a flaw, a weakness, a foible?  Or is it merely a quirk in our personal nature? 

I've been contemplating the topic of Habits a lot lately.  What is it about the term habit that is so negative?  I know that not all habits are bad.  In fact, there are several habits I wish I could aquire.  I'm not sure I'd ever truly enjoy being in the habit of getting regular exercise, but I am certain that I would see positive results.  If I could exercise regularly enough to make it a habit, I'm sure I wouldn't be sorry.  Maybe I should strive for habitually, healthy eating.  Or maybe, I could engage the habit of cleaning on a weekly schedule.  I'm sure that would make my life less stressful than the frantic, company-is-coming cleaning that I currently do...

But it's true that there are many bad habits that we pick up along the way.  Isn't it curious how something completely innocuous can turn on you in an instant?  And it's usually the seemingly unimportant things that turn into bad habits for me.  Nothing like smoking (which is not only unhealthy, but also stinky).  But the little things that creep up on you.  Like driving a little too fast, or drinking enough caffeine to keep the whole neighborhood abuzz.  Or even something as simple as grooming.  I once had made such a habit of my nightly make-up removal routine that I nearly had a melt-down when one of my preferred cleansing products was discontinued. 

My most recent priority in regard to habit-breaking involves the aforementioned frenetic housework.  Why is it such a struggle for me to keep the house orderly?  I used to be able to claim a neat and tidy house.  I was well-trained by my neat and tidy mom.  But somewhere along the way, that habit was lost and replaced by the sleep-til-the-last-minute-and-rush-out-the-door-with-the-beds-unmade habit.  I gotta break that!

So, that is my goal.  I'm going to break one habit, and (hopefully) in the process I will create another, more positive habit.  Habits are not something I usually go looking to create, and that's what will make this an interesting experiment.  Let's just hope that by next week I have a clean house, but without my manifesting any debilitating Clorox habits!

3 comments:

TravelByTurtle said...

RE a tidy house. When I first met you, I visited a very tidy small apartment.
Next, my girlfriend and I enjoyed staying in your well organized, reasonably sized home in LV.
Three kids and triple the thousand square feet later, yes the tidyness has changed. I imagine that with half the house and kids, your old habit of orderliness would be more visible. Trust me, it's still there, just diluted.

On my last visit you apologized for how the house looked. (better than after I had the kids for a few hours eh?) It is still cleaner than my bachelor place and to any normal person, just fine.

Feel better? Now, go clean up your car....

bebe said...

TBT, I knew you'd comment! And I await your random phone calls to inquire about my progress. We miss you!

The Strosser Family said...

Lets just focus on the good, less, "stinky" habits from here forward, okay!? Your house is always just fine, and you are getting skinnier by the minute, so you must have aquired some new, "working out, and eating healthy" habits... I'm jealous!

 
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