Do I stay on my diet today or do I break?
Do I stay on track with my fitness training or do I take a day off?
Do I continue the no TV rule in the house, or do I allow the kids to zone out while I take a break?
Do I hold my tongue and wait until tempers have cooled, or do I fall back into old habits of communication?
Do I smoke a cigarette or stay sober today?
The jury may be out on some of the scenarios above, and for some of the scenarios, you laugh because the choice is such an easy one. How did it become this way?
If we continually practice a certain behavior, day after day after day, it eventually becomes second nature to continue that behavior or practice. It can actually feel very uncomfortable to break a long established, well nourished practice or behavior. You may never slide into a fitness routine, but if you go out and play with it every day, a month from now it will simply just be a part of your ‘normal’ day.
When we are doing well on a habit or practice, all it takes is a few steps in the wrong direction and we can find ourselves sliding back into old ways. Sometimes its an evil hand that drags us back down into undesirable territory, but more often than not it is a friendly hand that invites us to stray ‘just a little bit’. And with each little bit of straying, the slope only gets slicker.
Today’s message: Be aware of which slope you are heading down and be super-mindful of the valleys you are hanging out in.
