A NEW DAY AND HABITS

The alarm rings. The sun shines through the window onto your face. The dog stirs. Your child creeps into your room. A dream awakens you, instilling a smile onto your face or fear into your heart. Your cell phone intrudes. You shuffle to the bathroom, head to the kitchen to put the coffeepot on, sink onto the chair. Another day begins.

We are creatures of habit. I’ve been reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. In it he talks about how easily we form habits, how they produce expected results, how they can be constructive or destructive, and how we can form new habits. We receive cues that catapult us into learned behaviors. Healthy eating, moderate exercise, adequate restful sleep are desired behaviors for our bodies. Did you know that these are also desired habits for a healthy emotional life? For the mind and brain?

What emotional activities are you engaged in that are healthy? Which habits are unhealthy? As individuals and as couples and families we can be sabotaged by stress, anxiety, depression, ineffective communication habits, abusive relationships, traumas we have experienced, losses and accompanying grief. Is this what you desire for your life? Wouldn’t you prefer to be healthy – emotionally as well as physically? If not, why not? Can you answer honestly? Is there a gain for you in being unhealthy? Or has it become a habit – one that you’d like to change?

How do you wake each day?

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