HABITS

Habits are more than just our junk food or 12 step-worthy problems; they keep us alive. From eating regularly to brushing our teeth, from calling family each month or birthday, to shopping weekly, basic, committed rhythms are what keep us from meltdowns into unstructured and disordered living.

We all know most of our bad habits by name (although our spending habits are curiously often hidden from ourselves … hmmm).

My first question is Do you know your good habits by name? If you feel like it, would you type a list of your good habits? If you’d like, click comments at the bottom of this blog and we can compare notes, or keep them to yourself. See if you can name 20 habits, and yes, you can use the suggestions in the first paragraph. Many of my readers have begun to keep a Sabbath every week, including recreation, church gatherings, and rest. Don’t forget to put that on your list if you are locking that one down.

Second, do you know how you created those habits? When? Did you do it on purpose? Were others involved in helping you shape a habit or two?

Third, which new or renewed habit would improve your journey now? Which new habit is most realistic to begin building into a routine now? What would it take to lock this in as successfully as you did others in your past?

Last, is there a habit that is destructive that you are ready to be done with? Instead of getting all pumped up to “finish it off” like we get pumped up to take on a new diet, with all the usual two weeks that it takes to lose the whole effort, is there a gentle, simple way of peace you can begin that would help you end it?

In the name of full disclosure, here is a list of 20 of my habits, and it is really hard to get to 20 without dipping into more embarrassing material!

Reading before sleep
Reading in the tub
Reading the Bible in the morning
Reading in the bathroom (yes, it is a habit!)
Reading a news magazine before Sunday morning
Reading a Daily paper at breakfast
Reading the daily news on the computer (usually in the later afternoon)
Checking my favorite team scores at night (in baseball and football seasons)
Working out each day (usually in the late afternoon)
Hugging my family members before bed
Praying when I wake
Praying when I hear a siren
Praying at meals
Listening to the morning news on NPR (Picking only one item to pray about from the news. It is a rule I keep to not be overwhelmed.)
Doing the bills on Saturday
Family meals for dinner (my four family members are all together for this only about four times a week!)
Worship every week
Brushing and flossing
Bathing
Shaving

Have fun with this, but I hope it kicks off a renewal of commitment and an appreciation for wisdom you have received into yourself already. “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self discipline” II Timothy 1:7.

Do well.