Nine months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 288. Yesterday, I talked about pulling back the negativity in your day to see the positive side. Today is a new day.
Even though it's been a year since I've been home I used to live in the same apartment with my parents for 17 years. Not much had changed in that household and that means I created a lot of habits in those years. One of those is the muscle memory associated with doing the same things for so long. I went to throw something away and even though my parents got a new trash can that had a lid (whereas before there wasn't one) I still ended up tossing the garbage like I used to and everything spilled over the side of it. It was a weird feeling. Even though I knew they had a new trash can, years of habit created muscle memory of where to throw things away that I just automatically tossing it without thinking about it.
This made me think about how much of what I do is due to habit. Daily routines like getting up, washing your face, and brushing your teeth are pretty standard and we're generally pretty conscious of it, but things like taking out our phones whenever we're bored are more automatic things that we do out of habit. It's interesting taking notice of what we do when we go into "autopilot" and aren't really mindful of what we're doing.
Yet these habits aren't created overnight; they're a result of countless repetitions. Despite not having a smart phone my entire life it's crazy how I'll instantly gravitate toward wanting to take it out when I'm waiting for the train or just standing around. What makes boredom so dangerous is that we tend to become less aware of what's going on because we're distracted by how we want to be doing something. Yet this distraction makes what we do end up doing habits that we become unaware of or pay little mind to.
The danger in them is how easy they are to create and how easily we get caught in their webs. When playing my games it's so easy for me to play for hours without thinking about it. That's what I used to do as a kid for years. Yet it's hard for me to sit down and just study for the same amount of time (unless it's something that really interests me). Habit is something that becomes ingrained into us so when I'm not playing video games or doing the things I've routinely come to do my body craves them in the same way some people crave coffee first thing in the morning. It's hard to change them because we've been doing it for so long and change takes time.
Being more mindful of what I'm doing letx me know to be more aware of what habits I'm creating for myself. The key to changing a habit is to create a new one, so in being more mindful can help me pinpoint what I need to change and how more easily. These next two weeks can help me identify my habits and see how they've translated to my life in Japan. From there, I can see what I need to start doing and work toward making those new habits.
What habits have you made?
Peace
"Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken." - Warren BuffetAfter about 2 days of being awake I've finally made the journey back to the states. I'm tired, hungry, smell, and so done with the waiting in lines, but I made it. Now that I'm finally rested I'm ready to do a lot of catching up and seeing how my hometown has changed. Also, eating lots of taquitos. I missed the hell out of them because Japan isn't too big on the Mexican food scene.
Even though it's been a year since I've been home I used to live in the same apartment with my parents for 17 years. Not much had changed in that household and that means I created a lot of habits in those years. One of those is the muscle memory associated with doing the same things for so long. I went to throw something away and even though my parents got a new trash can that had a lid (whereas before there wasn't one) I still ended up tossing the garbage like I used to and everything spilled over the side of it. It was a weird feeling. Even though I knew they had a new trash can, years of habit created muscle memory of where to throw things away that I just automatically tossing it without thinking about it.
This made me think about how much of what I do is due to habit. Daily routines like getting up, washing your face, and brushing your teeth are pretty standard and we're generally pretty conscious of it, but things like taking out our phones whenever we're bored are more automatic things that we do out of habit. It's interesting taking notice of what we do when we go into "autopilot" and aren't really mindful of what we're doing.
Yet these habits aren't created overnight; they're a result of countless repetitions. Despite not having a smart phone my entire life it's crazy how I'll instantly gravitate toward wanting to take it out when I'm waiting for the train or just standing around. What makes boredom so dangerous is that we tend to become less aware of what's going on because we're distracted by how we want to be doing something. Yet this distraction makes what we do end up doing habits that we become unaware of or pay little mind to.
The danger in them is how easy they are to create and how easily we get caught in their webs. When playing my games it's so easy for me to play for hours without thinking about it. That's what I used to do as a kid for years. Yet it's hard for me to sit down and just study for the same amount of time (unless it's something that really interests me). Habit is something that becomes ingrained into us so when I'm not playing video games or doing the things I've routinely come to do my body craves them in the same way some people crave coffee first thing in the morning. It's hard to change them because we've been doing it for so long and change takes time.
Being more mindful of what I'm doing letx me know to be more aware of what habits I'm creating for myself. The key to changing a habit is to create a new one, so in being more mindful can help me pinpoint what I need to change and how more easily. These next two weeks can help me identify my habits and see how they've translated to my life in Japan. From there, I can see what I need to start doing and work toward making those new habits.
What habits have you made?
Peace
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| Some things are hard to quit due to getting into the habit of doing it. In creating a new habit the old ones leave room for them to be replaced and forgotten. |
If you have any thoughts, stories, or experiences, leave a comment below!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~