The Comfort of Habits
I wrote this yesterday while in the emergency waiting room at the hospital. My wife was having an anomalous headache. It turned out to be a variety of migraine, but the nurse line recommended to we go just in case. She is ok and resting now, but we spent 6 hours at the hospital. I'm very tired today and I found myself behind in my tasks. I plan to discuss the comfort of habits further, but for now these are my thoughts.
Ι'll share what I wrote yesterday while waiting for a doctor.
Checkout June 9th 2018
Today is admin day. I processed all my papers and did the to do list items I had set aside for a time when I felt like dealing with them. That day is today, so no matter how much I don't feel like dealing with them I do so today. To be honest I deal with them in creative ways. I didn't want to deal with my air miles card. I never use it but I feel like I ought to. So I cut it up. I was sick of feeling bad about not using it. It seemed a bit extreme but I'm happier not to worry about it. I've been moving that way with a lot of reward cards. I don't collect on rewards. My life is simpler without them and I have more brain space to save money in easier ways, like buying healthy food and using all of it.
Four things I did
I put away the dishes.
I did my martial arts.
I went on a date with my wife.
I did my latin
Four things I didn't do
Washed all the dishes
Did an evening pick up
mopped the floor
Checked the bathrooms for clutter.
That's my most basic habit and I haven't done it. That's because this is an out of routine day. My wife needed to go to the hospital. It's probably nothing but it's better to be on the safe side, so now I'm sitting in emergency.
That means doing my martial arts is a big achievement. I did it this evening while waiting in the emergency room with my wife. I stepped out into the evening and did them by a dogwood tree that looked like hundreds of butterflies all coming to rest.
I learned that habits are comforting. When I was doing my martial arts in the hospital garden and my Latin in the waiting room I felt comforted. I think that's because habits are easier. I know the algorithm. I can do it.
I guess that's why in times of crisis people fall back to bad habits . I find myself staring at the computer mindlessly for an hour or pulling myself deep into a video game. People clean when they don't want to write an essay. I'm happy to report that with my better house keeping routines it is less common to lose track of other things because I'm cleaning. Because it makes no sense to go clean the bathroom on Sunday night. Tuesday is bathroom cleaning day. If I'm doing homework on Sunday I can really only justify ten minutes to do dishes and by the time they are done I will have solved the puzzle and finish my essay.
Ι'll share what I wrote yesterday while waiting for a doctor.
Checkout June 9th 2018
Today is admin day. I processed all my papers and did the to do list items I had set aside for a time when I felt like dealing with them. That day is today, so no matter how much I don't feel like dealing with them I do so today. To be honest I deal with them in creative ways. I didn't want to deal with my air miles card. I never use it but I feel like I ought to. So I cut it up. I was sick of feeling bad about not using it. It seemed a bit extreme but I'm happier not to worry about it. I've been moving that way with a lot of reward cards. I don't collect on rewards. My life is simpler without them and I have more brain space to save money in easier ways, like buying healthy food and using all of it.
Four things I did
I put away the dishes.
I did my martial arts.
I went on a date with my wife.
I did my latin
Four things I didn't do
Washed all the dishes
Did an evening pick up
mopped the floor
Checked the bathrooms for clutter.
That's my most basic habit and I haven't done it. That's because this is an out of routine day. My wife needed to go to the hospital. It's probably nothing but it's better to be on the safe side, so now I'm sitting in emergency.
That means doing my martial arts is a big achievement. I did it this evening while waiting in the emergency room with my wife. I stepped out into the evening and did them by a dogwood tree that looked like hundreds of butterflies all coming to rest.
I learned that habits are comforting. When I was doing my martial arts in the hospital garden and my Latin in the waiting room I felt comforted. I think that's because habits are easier. I know the algorithm. I can do it.
I guess that's why in times of crisis people fall back to bad habits . I find myself staring at the computer mindlessly for an hour or pulling myself deep into a video game. People clean when they don't want to write an essay. I'm happy to report that with my better house keeping routines it is less common to lose track of other things because I'm cleaning. Because it makes no sense to go clean the bathroom on Sunday night. Tuesday is bathroom cleaning day. If I'm doing homework on Sunday I can really only justify ten minutes to do dishes and by the time they are done I will have solved the puzzle and finish my essay.
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