Why Habits?

 

 

First we make our habits, then our habits make us –Charles C. Noble

 

What do we make of habits? Nothing! We pass them off as obvious & granted, as blinking. But they reveal more about a character than even an autobiography. Habits tell you, what a person himself never knew about him. And this doesn’t take an Einstein to do so. Let us explore the world of habits.

For a start, let me define habit. It is a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. So this definition makes things, like your style of brushing teeth, washing hands, combing hair, wearing socks etc unique to you & your character. They become your DNA. So very much embedded & exact that even your dead body, if allowed, would do it exactly the same way. There are three microscopes through which habits could be observed and analyzed. Have a read.

Pursuits become habits.

If you go down to observe ourselves under, what I call, a “behavioral microscope”, you will find even petty facts like what way you tie the shoe lace, which hole of the waist belt you use, which way do you apply you lipstick, the way you prick nose, your food & eating manners, blah -blah. Just try and reflect upon that unique way in which you apply soap to your body. Or the flowchart of your bathing sequences. Look at the way you hold your pen or the way you write ‘r’ or ‘7”. It also involves observing things like what is the peculiar action you take when you yawn, sneeze or burp. Know them more & the more you will be known. Because, these habits make a “gentleman”.

Now, reflect yourselves under, what I term as, an “attitudinal microscope”. Find the peculiar emotions & thoughts a situation of anger, trouble, frustration, joy, success generate in you. The ethical & moral reactions to these things. Record the exact thoughts and the order, in which they come to your mind when you see, hear, feel, smell or taste anything. Try and put yourselves in various situations & you will have a wholesome database of habitual observations. The more you understand them, the more the World understands you. Let me call such person a “mental-man”.

The third and the most intricate microscope is the “spiritual microscope”. We have so far looked at the primary & the secondary layer of habits. Apart from these habits, there are certain habits pertaining to your subconscious and spiritual self. Try and reason, you feeling ecstatic listening to that favourite song of yours. Or when you visit a particular place, religious, adventurous or scenic, you get a certain sense of calm & nostalgia. Or when you are with the beloved person of your life, everything else ceases to matter. Or when even with no preconceived notions, we find get pulled and bound into some stranger’s aura. While with some the exact opposite happens. Also things like watching a movie, reading a book or even the company of a pet animal or a treasured gift give you an emotional and spiritual high.

While some of you might not agree, but all of these and the kind, form the third and the most important level of your “habitual sandwich”. Although nobody can perfect his spiritual habits, anyone who even attempts to do so, should be called nothing less than a “holy-man”. Look around and you will indeed find a lot of achievers & famous personalities who were aware of their spiritual habits and tried to better the habits.

“Habit is the nursery of errors.”

All the physical pain that exists in this world is mostly due to bad “behavioral habits”, like smoking or junk eating. And the emotional pain happens due to weak “attitudinal habits”, like negativity or depression. If want to see the results of absence of good “spiritual habits” then look at what brings destruction & uncontrolled aggression in the World. Be it a terrorist who explodes a bomb or a politician who makes an opportunity out of agony. A kid who steals co-benchers stationery or son whose parents address is a old-age home. For the world to become a better place to live in, our spiritual habits need to be given due attention and importance.

To cultivate better spiritual habits you need to train yourself on qualities like holistic goal making & goal fetching. The means should be atleast be equally, if not more important than the end. Three commandments for betterment of your spiritual habits can (sense of) Purpose, Patience and Purity.

Finally to sign it off,

“Things start out as hopes and end up as habits. -- Lillian Hellman”