Creatures of habit

My oldest son is starting to wear deodorant. It is a habit his mom and I want him to master.

We know from experience that our rituals become forged and solidified by the number of times we repeat them. A guitarist, for example, masters his craft through repetitive practice. Many young people have grown nauseatingly bored trying to learn the guitar and opted to just set the instrument in the corner of the room to collect dust. I confess, I am one of those people.

Other folks developed a habit of playing for a certain amount of time each day before they did other more immediately gratifying habits (like watching tv or playing video games). The more they practiced the guitar, the easier it became -- the more they learned, the more enjoyable it became.

If you asked a great guitarist what separates them from people like me, they would probably tell you that they learned to embrace the boredom of learning to play well.

Many of the decisions we make everyday are made without thinking. The processing speed of our brain would be slow and sluggish if we really had to think about every little decision -- every single day. And so, we are wired to repeat past behaviors. This is a good thing when our habits are healthy and a destructive thing when they are not.

Over the next several weeks, I plan on writing about the importance of developing habits that align with who God has created us to be. I would also recommend a book I just finished called, Atomic Habits by James Clear.