The Habit of Breaking the Habit

The Habit of Breaking the Habit

Yes I say there is a habit to breaking habits. And with every habit we posses there most often is a ritual, or process, we follow. I have broken many habits from the physical to the psychological. First let me say that with every habit I broke the experience was only as difficult as I perceived it to be.
If I thought it would be difficult then it most certainly was. If I thought it would be impossible I had to not only fight my habit but also fight my own belief. But in ever instance the only way to successfully conquer this habit was to believe it was possible.
In fact I believed that it would never be easy to conquer my habits which only made the struggle more difficult and just that much more rewarding. And how would I know this?
Honestly, I was an IV drug user who wasted 14 years if his life in cocaine and meth amphetamine. And in 1986 when I was told that I have HIV and wouldn’t live more than 3 years what do you think I did? I quit and it was the most difficult choice I had ever made in my life. I thought “Why quit when you know you are going to die” and “Go ahead you know you want it because you can’t face life” “Come on you will feel normal again”
Yes my using was a form of self-medicating my undiagnosed Bipolar Affective Disorder. So the drug had a multi layer hold on me. And in the beginning it was tough. I had many relapses in that 1st month. And then it became less often and within 6 months I was totally clean and started on HIV meds which have prolonged my life to this day.
But I couldn’t just quit….that is an ideal situation and I am far from the ideal model. I started telling myself of all the harm my habit caused me. How it harmed my relationships. How even though it made me feel normal in my head it destroyed my body and chances of a future.
Still most of you will never have to face such a situation and if you do I am here if you choose to email me. Ok that was a tough habit to break and the biggest but perhaps I can share some wisdom about breaking smaller habits. Remember that this is only as difficult as you tell yourself it will be.

The ¼ ruler
Whenever you seek to change or add a new habit or routine follow the ¼ rule as followsr
Add or reduce by ¼ the amount

When I cut out caffeine (dark soda, black tea) I reduced my normal intake by ¼ and once I am accustomed to that I reduce by another ¼ and do this again till removed

When I started using the elliptical trainer I was given this Christmas my goal was 30 minutes a day. I know it’s just not possible to do that off the bat so I started with 7 minutes and am now working on the 14 minute level.

As a member of Desert Sky Toast Masters my goal was to eliminate using the phrase “You Know” which I often use as a verbal pause when doing Stand-Up Comedy. I caught myself saying it 9 times. That was 2 months ago and I have weaned it out of my verbiage in that environment,

The fact is you can make or break any habit in your life simply by taking it easy upon yourself, your view of how difficult it will be, and taking it a little a time. If we spent 7 minutes a day, 30 seconds from the average 14 waking day visualizing peace or control over a habit we will have spent 40 hours, in the course of a year, working on ourselves, being at peace, or breaking a habit.

Much peace and love