Last
Sunday Pst. Faith asked the congregation of Nairobi Chapel what one word
described what they wanted from the new year; what one word describes your goal
or what you want God to help you with? My word was 'HABITUATION'.
I
was at my friend Cucu Judy's farewell party when I first really thought of the
word. Her husband had written words from A-Z that described her and he had more
than 365 words to describe this wonderful lady. She is amazing; I could write
several blogs about her. Anyway, I saw this word and it just sprang up at me. I
mean, is it a good thing to be described as habitual? We all think that to be
habitual is to be boring and predictable; to be ordinary. In fact, my
generation is against habits (except drinking on weekends). We are about spontaneity and yelling 'YOLO'
before we jump into some random and often stupid situation. We are all about
eating life with a big spoon (if you don't get the fanta ad reference, you're
too young). Our generation embraces sleeping in and binge watching entire
television series. Our idea of making plans is to go to the kikoy festival
every year or whatever big concert is happening. We all want to 'go with the
flow' and do what our feelings tell us to do even if it means flaking out on
our friends. 'I'ma do me' is the phrase of the day as we skip out on our
responsibilities in order to go with what our flighty emotions demand.
I
know what you might be thinking and no, I am not just harping on other people.
I have been that yolo-yelling-flaky-flighty-indecisive-girl too but then I grew
up. I realized that if you skip classes all semester you will flunk. I
discovered that hangovers are not that funny. It hit me that I really do only
have one chance to live on this earth and do it right. I discovered that
emotions are terribly useless things to base major decisions on. I discovered
that a good nights' sleep really does make a difference with my health. I found
out that my grandpa's cool song, 'early to bed and early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy and wise,' wasn't just a nice poem used to get me to sleep
early, but a profound truth. Prov 6:10-11 'A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.'
Back
to habituation. I dare you to research successful people and find one of them
that isn't habitual. Why is Stephen Covey's 7 habits of
highly effective people a best seller? Why are we all so
obsessed with the habits of the rich? I mean, I even read an article the
other day about how successful people wear the same clothes. Check it out here. Now I am not
advocating for us all to wear the same uniform everyday, but there's a truth
behind that habit that we need to learn. Habits and discipline aren't a
restriction on our lives. In fact, I think spontaneity imprisons our minds in
some ways. Let me explain. The brain is built to recognize patterns in our
behaviour and then to automate these patterns. When we automate a process, we don't have to think about it
anymore and so it frees our brains to think about a more complex process. For
instance, think about driving. When you started learning how to drive you have to think about
everything; where your feet go, checking the mirrors, even signalling requires
your attention. You spend a lot of mental energy on these simple tasks but with
time it becomes automatic. You don't even have to think about putting on your
safety belt because your hands just do it as soon as you enter the car. So, how does automation/habituation cause freedom? Well, it makes the simple tasks automatic
and saves your brain power for the really important stuff. So, instead of
thinking about what he is going to wear everyday, Mark Zuckerberg can spend
that brain energy on inventing that terrible double-blue-tick thing on whatsapp
:)
Another
advantage of habituation is that it conditions your body. You can actually
train your body to automatically respond to a series of activities. That's how
we night-train children. But more importantly, if you usually have problems
going to sleep, come up with a bed time routine; a series of activities that
you do before you sleep each day and soon, if you perform those activities,
regardless of how you were feeling, you'll find yourself asleep on time.
Alternatively, you can have a morning routine that kick starts your brain.
Additionally,
habituation is the key to mastering spiritual disciplines. There is no way to
nurture your faith without having cultivated faith habits. Scheduled quiet
times, regular prayer, etc. I know a couple who wake up at 5 a.m. every day -
EVERY DAY! to pray. I know others who wake up at 3 a.m. to pray and those
couples have very stable and deep faith. Now, it is not a competition of who
wakes up earlier and I'm not saying that only early risers grow in faith. What
I have noted in many many more old christian couples who have deep faith, is
that they are quite habitual. Now, back to real life. My dad, one of the most
amazing men I know has been waking up early to jog for the longest time. All
these successful people have discovered the freedom that is found in habituation
and it's time my generation rediscovered the importance of discipline. Finally, for the adventurous like me, I can tell you that all these people have gone farther and visited more places than any of their 'go with the flow' friends. It's time to become habitual. Instead of yolo-ing your way into an early death, seize the day by creating some good godly habits.
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