Musings on Life Habits
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Romans 7:15 (ESV)
Romans 7:15 has been on my mind a lot recently, though not necessarily for spiritual or religious reasons. Rather, it’s because I constantly find myself slacking in my habits and disciplines, and I want to know why.
I mean, I guess I know the general reasons. The human body and mind tend to shy away from discipline. It’s something one has to work on, constantly. And I know that, and have proven it over and over to myself.
Yet, despite my best intentions, especially over the last 2 months while I’ve been primarily at home, I’ve noticed certain practices slipping. Is it anything major? To me, yes, though it might not be to others. A few examples…
I pride myself on reading. I generally spend 30-60m each morning reading both my Bible readings of the day, and one or more chapters of whatever book I’m working on currently. That is part of why I get up early, so that I always have time. Because I’m now fully enforcing my own schedule, and no longer am expected to be at work at a specific time, I am more likely to sleep in, and my reading time suffers.
Another habit that has slipped some is my workout time. I’ve slowly built up to the point that, pre-lockdown, I was doing aroudn 30m of exercise 5 days a week (again, in the morning). Once again, that habit is has slipped due to my sleep schedule.
So maybe the issue is actually the fact that I am not bouncing out of bed on my normal schedule. Why is that? Well, I suppose one aspect of it is that I am working mostly remotely, so I can do certain things throughout the day, and don’t have to cram everything into the 3 hours pre-work, or the 4 hours post-work. I can handle bits and pieces on breaks during the day.
But even then, that’s not an excuse, is it? I still want to do all of my old routines, and I’m still getting roughly the same amount of rest. Do I need to simply force myself into action? Maybe. It’s definitely worked before.
Anyhow. Those are my current thoughts on the matter. Possibly incoherent. But I think it helped me to write them down and process them, at least.
I’m publishing this as part of 100 Days To Offload (Day 24/100). You can join in yourself by visiting https://100DaysToOffload.com.