The Humble Rock Dove

“Doesn’t the ear test words as the palate tastes food?” – Job 12:11

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but you need to be looking after yourself.

I rarely experience depression, but when it strikes it hits hard and fast, and often it can feel as though there is no getting out. This usually carries the feeling that “you laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone” which is accurate regarding the tone of the experience, but couldn’t be less accurate physically, literally. Depression is fact for millions globally.

Climbing out of a depression can be as much a relief as climbing out of the same size of hole you were in. Habits can be fantastic relief, if you do them right. A form of “one foot in front of the other” – crucial, to getting moving.

A habit can be destructive or constructive. Lighting a cigarette, buying junk food, for instance, or wasting time can all be detrimental, as we know (as we know how hard they are to break). The way I look at it is this: a habit is a micro-sized ritual. It will affect you far deeper than what takes place during this “ritual”, due to the nature of the subconscious.

The good news is, good habits exist. Take cleaning the sink, running a bath, lighting a candle, drinking tea. They all can be habitual as well, habits are not just there to destroy us, they can be our greatest ally, and tool to change our lives.

The thing i like most about constructing the right kind of habits, is I can keep them close at all times. A habit is not just a ritual, but a system you can revisit and tweak, or reprogram. The most readily available example I can give is obvious: I want to eat healthy, so i take a hard step back. Next time i catch myself reaching for the winegums, my mind takes a mental pause. “Do i need it? Is this accumulating to anything? What are the effects of this if i keep doing it?” – healthy considerations.

Heck, you can even sit down and get pen and paper out and write out a “dream habits” list, of sorts! At the top of the page, perhaps set a goal (you can even do this mentally). What systems, that you need to repeat, would help you reach your goal? This opens a whole new terrain for people who associate the word HABIT with only bad things. Get in a habit of walking the dog, get in the habit of eating fruit, or learning something new.

I’m writing this every bit as much as for my own benefit as anyone who made it down to this paragraph. There’s more to say on the matter, but a habit of my own that I am working on, is to pace myself. The goal is to not get stuck.

I hope this helps someone.