We all have habits – I bite my nails (yep the nasty stuff didn’t work), I like the toilet paper to come over the top not underneath, I prefer the pillows on my bed to be a particular way. So we all have silly habits, preferences and behaviours that we just do.
I was chatting with a friend today and we were discussing less conscious behaviour habits; how you behave in stressful situations, how long can you do routine before agitating and looking for change (for me the magic number has been 5 years for the last 15). We are both trying to sort out our lives. I for one know that I have some pretty dysfunctional decision making habits. So we both agreed that the first step is acknowledging that we have these inexplicable patterns and habits. And he had the most wonderful analogy…..
The first time you walk down a street you notice the street scape, the trees but you don’t notice the enormous hole that you fall down into. It takes a lot of effort and hard work to get out of it but you do. So the next time you walk down the street you feel that the street scape is slightly familiar, but you still fall into the hole. Although this time not as deeply, less effort to get out. And so the story, or habit continues – until of course you are able to recognise that there will be a hole and you either stop going down the street, or you accept it will hurt but you have the skills to deal with it.
Nifty story isn’t it. I am not sure if I have enough emotional intelligence to stop walking down the street entirely but I do know that at the moment I am walking down a pretty familiar street!!
. That being said – while we are a generation which has not had a world war, there is horrible list of genocide, massacres and senseless acts of violence that also springs to mind as I consider my life time. So we have not been without sad stories.
