Creatures of Habit

For centuries we have been creatures of habit out of necessity. It was important that mankind find a way to do things that worked easily to find food, water and shelter and continue doing it that way in order to survive.

Today it's in our genes, to create habits for ourselves that are repeated without thought.

We get dressed the same way each morning, put on the coffee, grab a bagel and run out the door.

It's amazing to me how easy it is to create a new habit.

Recently I broke my arm and it was really hard the first few weeks to do every day things. I had to stop and think now about how to get dressed, get coffee made and even had to learn to type with one finger of my left hand instead of the way I had done it for years.

After a month of doing things with thought before hand I managed to create new habits.

When the cast came off and I had just a brace I caught myself many times doing things automatically the same way I had done them while the cast was on. It's amazing just how quickly we get in a rut of doing things and just do it that way without any thought whatsoever.

We do the same things with beliefs. Beliefs are thoughts we think over and over until we just accept them as truth/fact and think no more about them. They become a habit.

While this may serve us well in an emergency life or death survival situation, it limits us in every other aspect of our life experiences.

While we are going through our day without any thought at all about what we are thinking and or doing, our mind is racing with thoughts that confuse, conflict and limit us.

This lack of consciousness gives way to constant thinking without awareness.

Lack of awareness keeps us doing and believing things and even creating situations which seem to confirm them, thus we don't stretch out and think or try something new.

After the cast was off my arm actually hurt when I stretched it out. It had stayed in one position for so long that it forgot how wonderful and easy it was to be at full length. I had to work with it many times a days slowly reaching forward and reminding it of it's full glory. The muscles had also gotten smaller, the skin had begun to shed and peel.

With renewed energy I worked the muscles in the arm to restore it to fullness and it worked with me to change.

Habits are easy to change and pretty quick too. The trick is realizing that you are living by habit, sort of like a robot without thought, or reason other than you've always done it that way.

Today do something in a different way. Think about what you are doing and why. Be open to the experiences of your day rather than just moving through them unconsciously. Throw open the doors and windows of your life and be aware of your life, your thoughts and your actions.

By asking yourself what am I doing and why am I doing it this way your give yourself pause to actually be present with each moment of your life experience.

Being present, being aware opens new doors and opportunities to create change and well being.

Today be aware of each step, each action and listen to your thoughts. They may need an overhaul too.

You can easily change from habit to awareness just by choosing to do so.

Make it a great day.