Habits

Habits

How many habits do we have?  Let me count the ways.

In his wonderful book – The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg

tells us this: 

“More than 40 percent of the actions people perform each day weren’t actual decisions, but habits.”

I’ve head Denis Waitley, motivational speaker and author, tell this story.

On the Saturday before Easter, he and his wife were busily preparing the family feast for the next day.  As the ham was being prepared and about to be put into the baking dish, his wife said, “Don’t forget to cut the ends off the ham.”

Being the inquisitive man he is, Denis asked why. 

His wife, Susan, replied, “Because that is what my Mom always did.”

Again “why?”

I don’t know.  Let’s call Mom.

When Mom came on the phone, she replied, “Because that’s what my Mom always did.”

Why?

They called Grandma.

When they posed the question to Grandma as to why she cut the ends off the ham before baking it, she replied, “Because my baking dish is too small.”

That is truly a funny story, yet it demonstrates how some habits are handed down. 

My point is this:  Habits can be good, even great.  It can help us keep up with keys, wallet, hats and purses.  We do the same motion each time we handle these items.  They become habits and we can always find them.

I have often said, “I’m a creature of habit.”  I have routines and logical ways of doing things.”  And if I lose something momentarily, I’ll retrace my habitual ways of acting and can usually find the misplaced item.

This is more a post on “thinking” about habits rather than changing or eliminating habits.  For that, you may want to read Mr. Duhigg’s book, or others on the subject.

A final thought:  Just last night I was working on a small wood project.  I kept losing tracking of the small screws and support brackets I was using because I haven’t developed good enough habits for projects such as this.  Give me a set of drums and my old habits kick in pretty easily.

See the difference? 

Habits can be good – and they can be nemesis. 

Choose … WISELY!

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Words of Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration

How Far Can You Go?

How Far Can You Go?

As a small boy, I never gave any thought to traveling to London.  About all I knew about London was the song London Bridge Is Falling Down.  I thought my whole world was wrapped up in the town of my birth.

Nashville, fifty-three miles away, was the big city and it had way more than my little town.  But bad people lived there.  Shucks.  Most of us, in those days, didn’t even bother to lock our doors. 

And then college, then moves to other cities – Orlando, Albuquerque, Seattle, and other parts. 

My eyes got opened. 

In my music publishing days, I had the privilege of traveling to many cities in the US and in Canada.  My horizons grew.  My life experiences opened.

I began to see the world thru different eyes.

I saw distant shores with my own eyes.  I fished on Lake Michigan, I went up in the arch in St. Louis, I saw Mt. Rushmore. 

And then … London.  I actually cruised under London Bridge, saw Big Ben, was inside the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s plays were performed, attended a mass at Westminster Abbey, saw Buckingham Palace, Windsor Palace and Trafalgar Square.

The far lands became familiar. 

I’ve had the privilege to go places, places I had never dreamed of visiting as a kid from Tennessee.

All this to say … dreaming about such things is grand.  To actually get there in the physical body takes planning, forethought, and a will to do and be.

You can go and be and do.  Do you and I have the ‘will’ to go and be and do?

This is not a travelogue.  Nor is it a walk down memory lane and a moment to brag. 

It is a reminder for me, and perhaps you too, that we can go about as far as we dare to go, and are willing to plan to go, and aim to go.

The far shores come about, first, as a gleam in the eye, a desire in the heart, and a will to go. 

Then the plans of “how”.

One of my grandsons is on a gap-year trip to Australia.  He left in January 2018 and will probably return within a month or so from now.  What an epic journey he is having.  I marvel at the people he is meeting, the landscapes he is seeing, the foods, and the life experiences.  He has gone far, and he wants to go farther.  And, perhaps, some day, he will.

I hope you do too.  I hope you go as far as you possibly can.  I hope you enjoy the taste of kangaroo meat on your tongue, feel the winds of the outback on your face, see a koala, and stay away from crocodiles.  And if these aren’t for you, I hope you do whatever and wherever it is you want to go and do. 

Just come back and tell us all about your travels.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Words of Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration

Opinions and Love

Opinions and Love

I suppose I read something like this a hundred times or more on social media sites: “Don’t have an opinion?  Let me give you mine.”

Opinions abound.  Just ask the next person you meet on any street corner in America, or the world, for that matter.  And in most cases, that stranger will, perhaps, attempt to convert you to his or her ideology, thoughts, political persuasions and foods to eat or avoid.

A writer that I find refreshing, Bob Goff, wrote this recently.

“It will be our love, 

not our opinions, 

which will be our 

greatest contribution 

to the world.”

I think he is onto something.  LOVE!

You do know, don’t you, that people can tell whether you care or not?  And they can sense love, and all other expressions. 

I never get far from a bit of advice that my college music profession gave me once. 

Jim said, “Love the people.”

That’s it.  Love the people.

And it has stood me in good stead for all these years of my life.

A personal story:  I reconnected with a customer of mine who has become a friend.  We had not communicated for seven months or so, since my surgery and recovery.  He said to me … “You are one of the friendliest guys I know.” 

He paid me a high compliment.  Though we have different ideologies, different interest and have taken different career paths, we find friendship outside of the business dealings we do. 

He didn’t use the “love” word, yet for me, there is a brotherly love that he and I share.  He’s a nice guy, the kind I would love to do occasional things with. 

Bottom line … opinions drive me away.  Love draws me in.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Words of Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration