Bad habits, like weeds, should be... (Click image for video)

Don’t get lost in regrets for not having done something . . . (Click image for video)

Habits are like an old, familiar path.  

Having a habit, to me, is like striding along a familiar path, perhaps on the way to the market or in the park. Having taken a path many times, we feel confident when on it again. Paying no heed to what’s happening, we just keep moving, our mind on other things.

Acting from habits is very similar. Having done something repeatedly, we proceed without thinking, convinced that what we’re doing is just fine. Hopefully, the day will come when we look around and realize that we have been making mistakes. Indeed, this approach hasn’t really worked all that well for us. And so we attempt to make corrections.

But doing things differently is not easy.

And so we flounder, blundering first in one direction and then in another in our attempts to act more mindfully. As long as we remain patient with the process and we persevere, we will form new—and better—habits. We’ll reach the point where our actions once more are confident.

And correct.

When annoyed by others’ bad habits,

We need to be sure we don’t have the same ones. 

The sad reality is that we often notice annoying habits in others because we have the same ones. We just don’t notice them when we’re the perpetrator. It’s so much easier to see them in others! Perhaps the person is offering his thoughts. On everything. Okay, let’s stop right here. This may be a habit indulged in by a fair number of people, including us.

Voicing an opinion may stem from the person’s (our) sincere wish to be helpful.

Or from an honest belief that they (we) know the answer to a question someone asked at dinner.

Whatever the reason, the person’s seemingly endless stream of replies bothers us. And then one day, we overhear someone mutter to themselves “the world according to….”  And they then say our name, with frustration in every syllable. Wow! Speak of the proverbial bucket of cold water—we too have fallen into the habit of trying to be helpful, informative, etcetera.

And apparently failing. So we, also, are annoying others. 

Upon seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, discriminatory thoughts arise . . . (Click image for video)