GOOD THINKING: SOWING HABITS TO GROW A GOOD LIFE

"Old habits die hard." "We are all creatures of habit." Custom. Habit. Routine. Would life run as smoothly were it not for habits and routines?

Costume. Custom. Habit. All come from the same Latin roots. A custom or a habit is that which one makes one's own, whether it be a way of behaving or a garment to wear. So Epictetus would write: "Whatever you would make a habit, practise it. ..." So true! Whatever we practice, day-to-day, shapes the kind of person we are.

We are God's creatures, formed by our chosen habits. We get up each day at a specific time. We wash our face and brush our teeth in a prescribed manner. We always have the same food for breakfast. We have a set routine for getting dressed, for driving to work, for organizing our daily duties, and for relating to other people. Whether we attend a concert or go to church, we sit in the same seat every time. We are known by our habits; we are too predictable.

We owe it to our God, to our family and to ourselves to practice the best habits! As Mark Twain remarked: "Habit is habit, not to be flung out the window, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time."

Customs, routines, and habits make life livable, bring order out of our chaos, and enable us to make some sense out of life. What Henry Adams said is true: "Chaos breeds life; order breeds habit." Habits and routines can stifle life, smother it to death. Therefore, we shouldn't get upset when our routines are overturned and our habits are questioned. The resulting chaos might just open the door to new possibilities and renewed life! Old habits and old ways do die hard; and sometimes they should.

We continue to be God's creation, shaped by habits we daily practice. Let's choose more carefully what shapes our lives!

Samuel Smiles said it well:

"Sow a thought, and you reap an Act;

Sow an Act, and you reap a Habit;

Sow a Habit, and you reap a Character;

Sow a Character, and you reap a Destiny."

Dr. Kuehle is a retired United Methodist minister.