I've always admired people who develop great habits. They make doing really incredible things so easy! The thing with a good habit is that after a while you begin to see pretty amazing results. Over time it gets easier and easier, and the result gets better and better. I'm never going to start an exercising habit, but I've seen guys who regularly go to the gym or run ... man are they toned. My personal experience with this is giving up SOFT DRINKS. Crazy I know, but I'm getting older, and I had to choose between doing actual exercise and cutting out something from my very unhealthy eating routine.
Anyway, since January of this year, I haven't touched a single can of coke. I was downing a minimum of a can of coke a day (sometimes two) for the last .. i dunno 15 years. They say you have to jog for a few kilometres just to burn the fat from a can of coke. Well, there you go. I'm jogging every day now (from the fat i'm not consuming and not burning off. A real short cut to the whole process.
At the start, it was ridiculously hard. Every meal tasted bland. I couldn't believe how hard it was (mmm. at Maccas and other fast food places) to get a drink that wasn't a soft drink. And, I desperately craved the refreshing taste of coca cola. But soon, days became weeks and weeks became months. And within a couple of months, I went down 2 waist sizes. Crazy.
Rituals, habits, systems, methods ... have been getting a bad rap at Church. Way too closely linked to the Catholic Church or other forms of "High Religion", where we HAVE to do certain things because they are good for us. Most of us over time forget the real reason why we do some things, and then we're just left with .. oh, my mum's nagging me, or arrgh, I said I'd do it so I have to. However, I'm keen to give habits a fair go.
We're (and by we I mean the senior leadership of FGA Melbourne) are planning to bring back journalling habits to our church next year as part of our ASSIST theme. For so long, we have been focussing on intent and motivation as the main drivers of change. However, we keep meeting people (myself included in this) who are always high on intention to read the Bible and pray, but somewhere between the wanting to do it and the doing it .. something gets in the way.
i guess that's why the personal trainer business is growing so fast. We lack the discipline to get a habit going, so we pay someone to start it for us. Good for them.
Good habits are hard to form, but they are amazing when it comes to getting returns. Do something again and again, day after day, and pretty much a year will pass you'll be changed because of it.
So, today I'm starting a new habit. I'm journalling my thoughts, and I'm starting a blog. Our family is heading to Chicago next month and I thought i'd share my journey with everyone who is reading this.
Please feel free to write comments and messages. And please, stay in touch.
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