Healthy habits

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.”

- John Dryden

We humans are quite habitual in nature. Science tells us we spend about half of our day on autopilot. With that it mind, our habits, both healthy and unhealthy, can play a fairly significant role in shaping our quality of life. Most of us have our personal vices that we unconsciously cling to while forging through the day: poor choice of words, or snacks, or both. When we find ourselves in a comfort zone of unwanted habits, it’s up to us to do something about it if we intend to live a better quality of life. One way to accomplish this is by exchanging unhealthy habits for healthy ones.

I had a bad habit of replaying old scenes in my head of what I refer to as my ‘moments of shame.’ I would let those unwanted reruns prevent me from staying focused and living more in the present. I noticed this when I would go on runs, especially if I was not listening to music that day. I needed something to distract me from my unwanted thoughts. I decided to create a game for myself where I would label the things I would see as I ran through the streets of Chicago. Mail truck. White wooden fence. Stop sign. Inevitably, I would get lost in everything I was labeling and be more interested in my surroundings than my thoughts.