Habits we are told are a good thing.
I would agree.
Good habits.
The habits of drinking every night or eating fat-filled ‘treats’ are not the habits I am referring to.
They are very easy ‘bad’ habits, they don’t need to be forced.
These are the things that you know are supposed to be good for you…but just don’t come naturally.
They are not the things that you are drawn to.
‘Exercise’ is one of those things for me.
Again, it is not the thing that I enjoy (5-a-side football), that is a ‘habit’ I have had & enjoyed for about 30 years!
It is the other type of ‘exercise’ that I don’t enjoy – this has been 2-fold.
– Sit-ups & Press-ups
– Running
They are both things that I know will/should make my life better and be good for me but I am not drawn to them.
So I have adopted a sort of ‘out of body’ experience whereby I just start doing them – I try not to think about them & just start – once started I then just get on with it.
Sit-ups & press-ups I have been doing for quite a few years now – it used to be every day but is currently tweaked to every other & will get tweaked again.
This is a habit that I now just do.
I feel guilty if I don’t do it, I feel like I am cheating myself.
It is a forced habit.
Running is the latest one (thank you Covid Lockdown!).
Again, in an almost trance state I get up & put on my shorts & trainers and leave the house – once I am doing it there is no turning back.
This I do 3 or 4 times a week in general.
It is a forced habit.
In both cases now I have been doing it long enough that what I have got out of them now out-weighs my resistance to them.
Also, by the time this happens, you have progressed so far that you really don’t want to go backwards!
e.g. starting running is a bastard! – stop-start, heavy breathing & aching etc – I am now at the point that this is at a minimum & don’t want to return to where I started!
I think the idea is to collect forced habits as you go along in life. As you get older. As you realise what you should be doing.
Writing this is my latest one. A blog. Everyday. Thanks Seth!
Totally different from exercise but something I have been told and I am inclined to believe will be a good thing.
It is a bit of ‘me time’.
What am I going to write about? How will this manifest itself?
I have no idea.
As with all things, where it starts & where it ends are usually very different indeed.
It seemed logical for the 1st post to talk about forced habits seeing as this is my latest one.
Where it will go tomorrow I currently have no idea.
Tomorrow is another day & that is part of the challenge.