Posted by AuntieMel on October 7, 2004, at 12:54:37
In reply to What's in a habit, anyway?, posted by 64bowtie on October 7, 2004, at 10:02:31
Comments are my views only. Take with a boulder of salt. My instinctive answer to "what is in a habit" was "a nun."
> * Why do habits rule my life? Does it matter?not all habits rule your life. Only the ones that you let ruin it. The ones that you *think* are ruling you are the only ones that matter, assuming the others are legal and moral.
> * Do bad-habits cost me money?
Who knows?
> * Will I live longer with good-habits?
Maybe - or maybe it will just *feel* like you are living longer.
> * Is it a habit, or does it only feel like one?
Does it matter?
> * Do I have to know it for it to be a habit?
No - but you have to know it for it to have a chance of mattering.
> * Are they my habits, or am I sometimes a puppet?
> * When I do bad things, can I blame it on habits?
> * Who do I blame for creating bad-habits?You can't blame anyone, except maybe yourself. They may be habits, but they are also choices.
> * How do I get good-habits after having bad ones?
One actually sensible thing Dr. Phil said was "you don't break a habit, you replace it with a different one."
It's a concious choice to do this, and the choice of which habit to replace it with is also your choice. One example is replacing eating with exercise. If you eat when you are bored, then walk when you are bored. It's simple, but it works.
> * Do good-habits create good quality-of-life?
>Not necessarily. Sometimes they create gas.
> Premise:
> Freedom from my bad habits is most of the freedom that has ever been promised me. The conundrum is that the payoff requiring effort on my part.
>
> So, I can find freedom if I change my ways? I just don't know for sure how much change I need.
>
> A. How much do I have to change to feel free?Who knows?
> B. What do I change first, even if I'm willing?
Start with one. I would pick the one that bothers me most - or the one that costs the most money.
> C. Who knows how to find this freedom?
>only you.
poster:AuntieMel
thread:399938
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041001/msgs/399978.html