Habits, Routines and Addictions

Habits are hard to break. Just look carefully at your own lives and how easily things fall into a schedule and a set of expectations. It does't take much for things to become habit, and then for those habits to almost become ingrained. The human mind seems to enjoy schedules and regularity, and the unexpected can throw it for a loop. 

Habits can become routines and routines can become
habits. Walk the dog? Usually that's at a set time
of the morning and night. Whose routine/habit is it?
Actually, both you and the dog have trained each other. 

It's the simple things that can throw me off. I'm rediscovering what a creature of habit I am as I switch operations from my old phone to my new one. It's aggravating in some ways, and rewarding in others. 

Not all apps work across platforms. The
"Shake for Flashlight" app I used on my
Motorola phone, doesn't work on my
Google phone. I have a different app
installed, but it's a little more work. *sigh* 

I have discovered that there were a few Motorola features, like "shake for flashlight" that I really miss on the new phone. I have a flashlight app that I downloaded and have a widget for on my home screen, but I have to go through a few more steps before my light is available. Shake for flashlight was a wonderful feature and I miss it. (Leaving the house at 4:30 am every day for the gym means that I leave in the dark, and sometimes return in the dark. Navigation into and out of the house safely often requires a flashlight app.) 

I don't mind Google Photos, I had it on my
old phone too. But I also had "Gallery" on my
old phone and used that more frequently.
Still, I get free cloud storage for years
with the new phone, and I take a lot of
photos, so this might be an excellent
thing. 

The icons are arranged differently, and instead of "Gallery" for my photos, they are in the Google Photos icon. This isn't quite as much of a hardship since I had already had both options on my old phone, but it is a small stumble ... a "where is that icon ... oh yes, I'm using the pinwheel now" moment. 

Habits can become routine when you allow them, but
should you? Think of James Bond - as a secret agent, he
had to work constantly against developing habits. The
habits and their schedules could have ended up killing him
because of his routines. 

But I'll get used to the new icons and operations. I'm not worried about that. These are small bumps in the road and the new habits I'm developing aren't bad habits, just different ones. Unfortunately, habits can actually affect lives in negative ways and that can lead to illness, injury and tragedy. Addictions start out as habits, but quickly sink their claws into daily lives, fighting for supremacy. Addictions are like habits blown up large. Where habits can be difficult to change or break, addictions can be almost insurmountable. 

Habits can move over and become addictions. Notice
in the graphic that some of the items appear
on both sides. 

But addictions CAN and ARE broken. Lives are healed when they are removed, and scars left do heal over. Habits are just that - good or bad. They can be indulged or they can be retrained, and in extreme instances, they can be excised. If you have habits you're trying to change, remember that small steps can lead to large successes. All mountains are climbed one step at a time. 

Enjoy your Tuesday. It's going to be a busy one for me, but I'm happy. My weekend weight gain is gone and I'm back on track with my good habits - LOL. The month is almost over, and March is looming. Winter is slowly coming to a close.