Breaking In Our Habits

The word habit, which we usually use to describe a routine or pattern of behavior, originally meant something you wear, and indeed, the term habit is still applied to certain kinds of religious clothing even today. If we think about trying to build a new habit as being similar to trying on a brand new article of clothing, it may help us to adjust our expectations. Our habits might not fit perfectly at first. They may feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. We may feel stiff and awkward and have to think a little bit harder about how we move and act while we are trying them on. It might even take weeks and weeks before we’ve fully broken in our habits. But if we keep at it, there will come a time when we’ve spent so much time trying to incorporate a new habit into our lives, that it feels as natural as the clothes we wear. In fact, we may get so used to them that we start to feel naked and vulnerable when we try to skip a day. We don’t have the expectation that a brand new pair of hiking boots will be perfectly molded to our feet the very first time we wear them. We understand that it may take a few weeks and we might even get a few painful blisters as we break them in. We should expect nothing less than the same level of patience and suffering through the same kinds of pains and inconveniences when we first try on a new habit. But just like the sturdy and reliable comfort and protection of a broken in pair of hiking boots is worth a little pain and irritation at the beginning, being able to rely on good habits is worth the pain and discomfort it takes to break them in at the beginning.