Habits

 I walk every morning, rain or shine, at least 30 minutes, often more. I do it partly because it is good for me, both physically and psychologically, but mainly because I enjoy it. The best habits are like that. We often resist starting habits when they are suggested as 'good for us'. We may not outright reject them, because we acknowledge that the person recommending the habit means well, cares about us, and that they have a good point. But often we drag our feet because we are not drawn to start a habit even though we know we "should". The sense of obligation acts as a deterrent. We also feel that if we start something we have to continue. And we often plan a specific date to start - like New Year's Day - and then fall behind and quit.

It has been said that doing something for 30 days in a row establishes a habit. You don't have to start on a particular date, just start and keep it up for 30 days. By then it will be ingrained in your day and a day without it would be lacking. It is best if you can start habits because you like them, like my walking. But there are some habits that you can start doing because they are important and then find that you do enjoy them. Sometimes you just do things because they are important - like my daily blood glucose testing and food diary. 

My blogging has gone through stages. I started as a spotty thing - blogging when I had an inspiration and had some grand presentation. I would do a series over time and then lag. I did a series a couple years ago for a Toastmaster speech project which required me to do 8 posts over a month and then give a speech about the process. I did and then faded. It was too easy to miss and too hard to schedule an every other day post, or twice a week. So I decided that what I needed to do was just post daily. No waiting for inspiration, no long involved posts. Just doing something daily.

 I realized that I didn't have to share the post (FB, Linked In, twitter, etc) all the time. I could treat it like a diary and share on FB, etc, when I felt it was really good, or at least 2 or 3 times a week. And the day I began was April 3rd - not the 1st, not a specific date, but just when I decided to start posting. There have been a few days when it was late by the time I posted and sometimes I would wake up with an idea. I don't know how long it will last, but for now I am planning to continue, and I hope my sharing is beneficial - not only to me, but to a wide range of people. I would appreciate your comments on my posts. Thank you.