Habits, Habits

In the space of 24 hours this weekend I was confronted with three lessons on the same subject. I assumed they were for me, specifically, but perhaps they will create resonance in your thinking as well. The subject: habits.

1. I was standing in my neighbor's backyard discussing his amazing and fast-growing wild blackberry patch and how to cut it back before it takes over the neighborhood. His back yard, in an angular fashion, abuts the yard of another neighbor, separated by a fence. I was struck by the odd paths that were worn in the abutting back yard. You can see them in this picture, but they are even more pronounced, and further to the right, in person:

I didn't realize what they were until the black Lab that lived in that backyard came racing down to tear along the dividing fence with my neighbor's dog while we talked (see the worn path at the base of the fence on the Lab's side). After four or five laps the two dogs gave up and the Lab loped back up toward h/er house—on the central path you see in the picture. I was amazed. This dog's world seemed to consist of what s/he saw and encountered on the paths s/he had carved into the sod. The path branches jutting off to the right must have led to a couple of other points of (habitual) interests in h/er world. But I wondered: What pleasures and new horizons must the Lab be missing as a result of h/er habitual confinements to the same paths every day? More importantly, if I could take a God's-eye view of my life, what paths would I see in my world that I trod daily—loping mindlessly along like that Lab—without thinking; paths that act as blinders to what's around me? Indeed, those paths appear in the carpets of our homes over time. But what about the unseen mental and physical paths we create in the world? Habits.

2. I was reading an interview with a former Wall Street investment guy who made a career shift and returned to medical school and became a doctor, and now combines both areas of expertise in his return to "wholistic" investment counseling. He was talking about the kinds of things that contribute to mental acuity as we age—well-known things like crossword puzzles, juggling, ping-pong, learning a new language or musical instrument, etc. But he also mentioned the importance of breaking habitual patterns—things like brushing one's hair or teeth with the "opposite" hand and getting dressed with your eyes closed in order to force the brain to create new neural pathways. Those last suggestions were new to me and spoke to the habitual parts of my life. Think how many things we do habitually (teeth, hair, dressing) that are passive; that require no new thought, concentration, experimentation, or learning, and therefore contribute nothing to the expansion of our experience, elasticity, or enjoyment in life. Habits.

3. I'm currently reading a book called Maximum Achievement by a well-known corporate speaker and trainer named Brian Tracy. (The book is great—really forcing me to think in fresh ways about where I am in life, and why, versus where I'd like to be.) I was reading his thoughts on "habits" (pp. 90-91):

Virtually everything you do is the result of habit. The way you talk, the way you work, drive, think, interact with others, spend money and deal with the important people in your life are all largely habitual. Your behavior in every area of life is based on the accumulation of all your experiences, starting in infancy. Probably 95 percent of your actions an reactions are automatic, unconscious responses to your physical and human environment

Your habits are major obstacles to your becomeing the kind of person you want to be. Your habitual ways of thinking, feeling, talking and behaving are often roadblocks that stand between where you are today and where you really want to go. They keep you "running in place" . . . .

The most dangerous habits you can form, however, are mental habits. Because of the fact that whatever you think about continually you create in your life, your negative or self-limiting thoughts hurt you more than almost anything else you can engage in. . . .

Success and failure, happiness, and unhappiness, are largely the result of habit, of the automatic ways you respond and react to what's going on around you. Changing habits that are no longer consistent with your higher purposes is one of the hardest things you'll ever do, and one of the most essential to the quality of your life. But unless you've already reached some level of excellence or perfection, you are living today with habits that you must discard if you are going to move forward. Remember, bad habits are easy to form, but hard to live with; good habits are hard to form, but easy to live with. Your job is to form good habits and make them your masters.

The good news is that all habits are learned, and they can therefore be unlearned.

Habits.

I was glad to be confronted with the dangers, and opportunities, associated with living habitually. There are good habits and paths, to be sure (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Jeremiah 6:16; 18:15). But I wonder if even the good ones can become the enemy of the best. Anything we do without fresh, conscious thinking—either reaffirmation to continue or sudden awareness of a new and better way—seems more passive than active.

This is fresh ground for me—at least as of this weekend. But I meditated on all these as I (rather mindlessly, except for continual prayers for safety) went up and down the ladders, pressure-washing the outside of my house. After hours of chewing this cud I decided it was worth passing on. (Maybe not the best image—but let me know your thoughts.)

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One path being worn in my yard is to my compost bin. Checked the temp Sunday and things are heating up: