S.S.D.D.

Image via Wikipedia

We are inarguably creatures of habit, both good and bad. Sometimes it's easier to maintain the bad ones, and it's definitely easier to start a habit than it is to quit one. The "good" habits are really just repetitive mundane actions, routine behavior that keeps us doing what is necessary to get through our daily lives. Straying from this routine, intentional or accidental, can disrupt the chain of daily events. A few days ago I altered my normal morning routine and forgot my lunch and my watch, leaving me starving and lost in time.

Sticking to the "norm" would appear to be what's best, but adhering to our benign habits is ultimately stealing away our lives. There is a part of our brains that allows us to function through everyday activities without requiring much focus, allowing us to keep our sanity. It's the reason you arrive at work and can't remember anything from the commute. We supress the commonplace acts in order to use our mind for more worthy situations. The problem is that most parts of life become mundane, repetitive, and commonplace, given a long enough span of time. When every day is the same we suppress more and more of our mortality. Then, once we actually stop to think, we discover that time is speeding up. We lose the substance and depth of our lives. We age faster. We remember less. All because there's nothing fresh, nothing new.

Job security is a retired concept and monetary stability is a fluctuating abstraction. There is nothing concrete in this world and what goes unchanged collects dust and is forgotten. People are convinced that healthy living assures a long life, but age is meaningless without significance, crux, or purport. Change is not only good, but it's necessary. Uproot yourself. Start over. Make life refreshing and new so the years, no matter how many or how few, will be abounding and complete. Break the habit. You risk forgetting lunch but it's better than forgetting your life.