It's a twist and a turn at times.
It's full of surprises and quiet moments.
It has detours, uphills and downhills.
Life.
One life.
My life.
Last July, during our Choice Literacy Writing Retreat, our wonderful and giving editor Brenda Power gave all of us the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This book has been on my "TBR" pile f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I considered it a sign when she gave us this gift that it was time to dig deep into that book. I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to understand how our behaviors impact our actions, how to replace habits with new, better, healthier habits. It's a brilliant book. Since then, I've thought long and hard about my own habits...from my eating habits, to my habits as a teacher, my reading and writing habits, to my personal health habits. This book helped me understand process, behavior and mindset.
Ever since then this concept of replacing habits has stayed in my mind and I've been playing with it in my head. I know I wanted some permanent changes in my life in different areas but I didn't know which one to choose yet. I wanted to be successful at whatever journey I was going to embrace. If I chose too many goals, I wouldn't accomplish any of them. I savored, chewed, processed, thought and scribbled ideas in my head for a long time trying to figure out what life changes I can or should make. Starting small was also important to me.
So I tackled one small change last summer knowing that this would be a long journey for me. You see, I always struggled with soda. I loved drinking Coke. Loved the taste. Loved that it went so well with hot dogs and pizza. What a great combination. BUT I knew it's not good for my health and my body. But giving it up just seemed to hard for me to handle it. The book The Power of Habit taught me to think that an old habit can be replaced with a new habit. It takes time but it is possible. So, instead of giving up soda completely, I thought of something I could replace it with. That's when I started experimenting with green smoothies. And boy did I love those smoothies! Little by little, I was drinking green smoothies 60 % of the time and had my occasional soda here and there. After months and months of drinking green smoothies, I realized that the percentage changed. Now I drink green smoothies with my meals 95% of the time and I have a glass of coke maybe twice a month.
The journey has taken me months and months. Months of trying and failing. Trying and failing. Trying and succeeding. Trying and feeling good. Feeling good and "sticking with it." As I'm working on replacing old habits with new ones, as I look for a healthier way of living, I keep reminding myself that...
Life.
It's a twist and a turn at times.
It's full of surprises and quiet moments.
It has detours, uphills and downhills.
Life.
One life.
My life.
4 comments:
Stella, I most certainly could learn a lesson from you here about soda. Most importantly, I loved that you tried and failed, but kept on going so that success was where you landed.
Like you, this book has on been on my TBR pile for quite a while. I have read snippets of many sections, but it sounds like I need to start at the front and read to the end to connect all the pieces.
Enjoy those green smoothies!
Stella,
You are brave woman to give up soda. I too read the book after receiving it from Brenda. I took on time. I wanted more time for reading and for writing. I took Brenda's suggestion for smaller writing chunks. That helped me a lot as I thought I needed a long time to write something (well, I do, but that's another conversation). Now I make it a habit to try to get the bones down in a notebook or my voice recorder, but the story energy escapes me. I also have tried to stop "work" by 9 o'clock at night to use this time to read. This is a hard one for me, but it really needs to be done. However, I have NEVER been brave enough to even contemplate the two biggest habits I need to change COFFEE and SODA. You are my hero.
Thank you for sharing your ups and downs. It isn't always easy to type about those feelings. I am reminded again about the importance of starting small, setting a cue to help me remember and placing one foot or drink in front of the other. BTW I have never had a green smoothie perhaps that should be on my list. Maybe you can teach me :)
Way to go with healthier life choices and not drinking so much soda. You might find eventually you may not even like the taste of it. I stopped drinking it when I was pregnant the first time and never went back. I have yet to read this book and it sounds like I really need to. Maybe during spring break, it could be my self help choice book. BTW - I'm envious of Cathy for stopping work at 9pm. It seems to be about the time I start which can't be a good habit to have.
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