A GOOD THING

Habits That Enrich Our Lives

The word “habit” has a negative connotation in our world today. Everybody knows that it is a bad thing to have a “smoking habit” or a “drug habit,” and nobody wants to be known as a “habitual offender.” But habits don’t have to be bad. If our brains can compel us to learn bad habits and to practice them subconsciously without even thinking about them, our brains also can be utilized to help us learn good habits that can enrich our lives.

If you don’t have the good habits you want in your life, you will have to nurture those habits. And that is relatively easy to do once you understand the process that your brain goes through in order to make a behavior habitual. In fact, the same brain that led the way in the formation of those bad habits you wish you could eliminate can also help you create the kind of good habits you admire in others.

Habits don’t have to be unpleasant, and they don’t have to be destructive. The right kinds of habits can actually improve your life and contribute to your health and happiness. And while you may be painfully aware of how difficult it is to eliminate a bad habit, the good news is that a good habit, once formed, can be just as persistent and just as reliable in your life.

So rather than despising the way that God made you, take advantage of it. Learn how to harness the natural inclinations of your own body and brain in order to form the kinds of habits that can make your life better. Eating healthy is a habit, not a discipline. And exercise is a habit, not a chore. Likewise, thrift and courtesy and industriousness and good parenting are habits a person acquires over the years. Good habits await those who will make them.