I am having an obsession-again. Obviously, I am obsessed about habit. I’m spending a lot of time thinking about the way habits shape our daily lives. Observing myself, I notice a habit of recurring patterns of thought.  Brushing my teeth this morning, I noticed a sequence of thoughts drifting through my mind.  It was a jolt to realize the exact same sequence of thoughts drifted through my mind yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. What’s worse it was a sequence of  unhappy thoughts about my parents’ divorce- both of whom died years ago.  If brushing my teeth triggers a string of threadbare unhappy thoughts, maybe I should stop brushing my teeth. Maybe I should change my brand of toothpaste, and swap in a bright new line of thinking.

Here’s a thought.  Each time we repeatedly think the same thought pattern we add mass to it. The more the mass, the more opaque the thought until we can no longer see beyond it. Habits of thought create blinkers that narrow our vision to the point of blindness.

Conversing with my sister the other day, she made a comment to the effect that she and her significant other were set in their ways. Furthermore, it felt as if that statement was said with complacency. It rocked me, because my sister was ever the adventurer; boldly seeking new horizons. I’ve often observed that those of us living the final  third of our lives can be divided between cranky carmugeons, and carefree happy campers. Is it the weight of our habits that swings the pendulum to one side or another?

This post is simply meant to be a step toward building a new habit for myself; that of writing a minimum of three hundred words daily. Unexpectedly it has opened philosophical can of worms for me.  Maybe there is more to say about this; maybe not. I’ll tune in tomorrow and see if there is anything further to write.  Wish I could draw well enough to create a picture of a can of worms.

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