Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Creatures of Habit
There are things we do everyday without really thinking about it.
Simple acts that are ingrained from birth, or childhood simply by training and repetition. Like recapping the toothbrush and flushing the toilet, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Even saying God Bless you to a stranger when they do it. Canadians apologize when someone bumps into them - as they were trained to do from children... All out of habit.
Daily habits we can create in ourselves, double checking the door to ensure it is locked before heading out to work, always grabbing your purse and keys, (or wallet - can't forget the guys), closing the bird cage and turning on the radio for the bird has become a habit for me, as I do it everytime I leave the house.
What happens after a move? The ritual changes.
For the third night since my move I have gone to my class.
And for the third night I have taken the wrong exit off the highway to get to my NEW HOME!
Tonight I was the closest to getting it right. This time I caught myself before the exit but was in the wrong lane and there was a car in the way preventing me from cutting over in time to get off the highway. Yet, the habit has been formed of going to the other exit after my class. The good thing is there are 2 classes left this term. Then a month of before the next one begins. Hopefully I will begin to remember the true way home, or stop singing so loud I get distracted and forget to get off the damn highway.
Simple acts that are ingrained from birth, or childhood simply by training and repetition. Like recapping the toothbrush and flushing the toilet, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Even saying God Bless you to a stranger when they do it. Canadians apologize when someone bumps into them - as they were trained to do from children... All out of habit.
Daily habits we can create in ourselves, double checking the door to ensure it is locked before heading out to work, always grabbing your purse and keys, (or wallet - can't forget the guys), closing the bird cage and turning on the radio for the bird has become a habit for me, as I do it everytime I leave the house.
What happens after a move? The ritual changes.
For the third night since my move I have gone to my class.
And for the third night I have taken the wrong exit off the highway to get to my NEW HOME!
Tonight I was the closest to getting it right. This time I caught myself before the exit but was in the wrong lane and there was a car in the way preventing me from cutting over in time to get off the highway. Yet, the habit has been formed of going to the other exit after my class. The good thing is there are 2 classes left this term. Then a month of before the next one begins. Hopefully I will begin to remember the true way home, or stop singing so loud I get distracted and forget to get off the damn highway.
Dragonfly 7/18/2006 10:14:00 PM