Uprooting Habits

Conquer your bad habits soon or they will conquer you!

A father wanted to wean his son away from his bad habits. The father took his son for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. "Now pull out that one," said the father pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out. "Now take this one out," said the the father, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge. "It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort. "So it is with bad habits," said his father. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted." This lesson with his father changed the boy's life forever.

Reflection:

This story holds such a powerful message. We form bad habits and then wonder how we can rid ourselves of them, most of the time it's just way too difficult as we identify these habits too late when they have grown deep roots into our personality and character. Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to arise from. Now there is no immediate cure to get rid of these bad roots, just like the above story, it's almost impossible to uproot them once they have fully grown on you. The good news is that it is much easier to replace a bad habit with a good habit. Pick one bad habit that you want to change in your life today… only one to begin with and figure out a way to replace it with a good habit. Be patient with this process and don't forget it is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. Conquer your bad habits soon or they will conquer you!

May you have an Awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character." -  Stephen Covey