What are my habits, anyway?

I think about this a lot, what my habits are and what they say about me. When I read what educator Charlotte Mason writes about habits, sometimes I feel a bit unformed and hopeless myself- how can I cultivate good habits in my children, when no one really took the time to cultivate them in me, so now I really have to train myself, in a way?

That's discouraging. But maybe I shouldn't be discouraged. I'm sure I have some bad habits "to break" so to speak, but I also have some good habits, too. And I think they show where my heart is...

Things I do pretty much every day...

Hug & snuggle & "love on" my children.

Kiss my husband and tell him I love him.

Enjoy my kids and spend time talking to them.

Prepare one to four meals a day (sometimes I do two dinners, an earlier, simpler kid dinner and something later for the adults... that's a new habit, actually.)

Clean something. Or a lot of somethings. Or clean a lot.

Plan something.

Laugh with my girls or say silly things.

Put my glasses on. I can't see otherwise.

Comfort someone who is hurting.

Read... for myself and to my girls. Always.

Put my children to bed every night with our fairly elaborate bedtime routine. I am blessed to watch my four year-old fall asleep every night. (Take that as you will, how I feel about it depends on the night!)

"Check in" with one or more of my friends.

Check my email and check in with imaginary friends (some of whom are real people I have met, I swear.)

Things I wish I did every day but I still do a lot but should do more... I guess things I want to become habits, to become natural?

Pray, more than short desperate "help me out Lord" prayers.

Along with that, spend more time in the Word...

Write more. Write everyday. Not just messageboards, email or blogging.

Walking... for exercise and more regularly. (I sort of have a plan on this one.)

Discern what's really important and let the rest go. Cease from beating myself up.

Count my blessings and rejoice.

How about you? What do your habits say about you, the good ones anyway? How do you go about establishing new habits? Mine just came to be because they are what's important for me and necessary for my life. They come from the love of my heart and from the hopes and dreams that I have. I don't think I can adopt habits that are not "me" or that don't fit my purpose in life and God-given personality.

Maybe what I'm describing above is more habits as a way of being, rather than a tool for accomplishing goals or being super-productive or wealthy or such. But they certainly shape and enrich and in part define my life, and I think show who I really am and what I want my life to be like.

 

Comments

[Joannabug]

Beautiful post. I just really liked the way you reviewed the things you do everyday, things that sometimes we forget about ourselves. Thank you so much for sharing!