Sunday, 16 February 2014

"Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd"

So William Wordsworth wrote in his Ecclesiastical Sonnets of 1888. The dictionary definition of "habit" is "a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behaviour that is acquired through frequent repetition" or "an established disposition of the mind or character".

We are conditioned as children to form good habits, whether that is saying "thank you" and "please" when we want something, not picking our nose, sharing and waiting our turn, saying "sorry" when we have done something wrong. Ultimately, a lot of what we are taught as children encourages us to recognise and then respect boundaries. We form basic habits that equip us for life, without questioning whether they are good or bad.

So are all habits essentially bad for the mind? We all know about the bad habits such as drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sugar, fast food. These are bad for both body and mind. Healthy eating and exercise are, for example, good habits that we are encouraged to form. Undoubtedly, these activities are beneficial for our body and mind. But is there an argument that even good habits are bad for us once we have stopped questioning the position that they hold in our lives? 

Jobs and relationships seem to be two areas in which this could be true. Many people remain in both jobs and relationships that are well past their sell-by date in terms of what suits them best. Often, in both instances, there are extenuating factors which prevent them from moving on, whether that be financial concerns in relation to a job, or the impact on children or finances where a relationship or marriage is concerned. Beyond these fundamental concerns, many of us spend a significant proportion of our lives, trying to pretend that we are happy with our lot or burying our true feelings about our lives beneath the surface, which in themselves become habitual behaviour.

Is it true that as soon as something becomes a habit, we have lost our ability to interrogate rationally its position in our lives because we have developed a resigned acceptance of its presence? Such laziness prevents us from having true freedom of thought and reaction.

The ultimate goal surely must be to be comfortable enough with the natural boundaries in one's life and mind to be free from all habits, and to make definitive choices about as many things as possible in our lives.


No comments:

Post a Comment