"Habit is a man's sole comfort. We dislike doing without even unpleasant things to which we have become accustomed." --Goethe
We all have bad habits and heck, we all know we should drop them so the questions is, why don't we? Why do we keep going back to someone we know will hurt us or doing something that we know isn't good? Why are bad habits so damn addictive?
I guess it's the same reason some of the yummiest tasting food is so bad for you. If the food reflected how bad it was for you, no one would eat it. So it's masked with who knows what and suddenly, it tastes great. Does that comparison even make sense? If we realized how bad that habit really was, surely we wouldn't continually do it. Right?
I think Goethe is definitely on to something - we continue to do something, regardless of whether or not it's pleasant or enjoyable solely because we got used to it. It's like working out; they say you have to give it two weeks to fall into the pattern of it because that's how long it takes for your body to become used to it. So my thought process then is, to kick a bad habit, give it a good two weeks. Although, I'm sure we all know it takes a lot more than that. It's interesting that bad habits take longer to learn to live without while a good habit or routine can settle in pretty quickly. I only wish that people could see just how bad their bad habit(s) is(are) and just how much it affects them.
Then again, I know I've got my fair share of bad habits (and if you're reading this and know some, please feel free to not post them!) that I just can't quit. Some worse than others, I sit here and think 'It'd be easy to do without it, but I just don't want to.' So kudos to you Goethe, you've wrapped up my entire sentiment about bad habits in one simple, easy to understand statement. Enjoy my fluff around it on your lazy Sunday :)
I guess it's the same reason some of the yummiest tasting food is so bad for you. If the food reflected how bad it was for you, no one would eat it. So it's masked with who knows what and suddenly, it tastes great. Does that comparison even make sense? If we realized how bad that habit really was, surely we wouldn't continually do it. Right?
I think Goethe is definitely on to something - we continue to do something, regardless of whether or not it's pleasant or enjoyable solely because we got used to it. It's like working out; they say you have to give it two weeks to fall into the pattern of it because that's how long it takes for your body to become used to it. So my thought process then is, to kick a bad habit, give it a good two weeks. Although, I'm sure we all know it takes a lot more than that. It's interesting that bad habits take longer to learn to live without while a good habit or routine can settle in pretty quickly. I only wish that people could see just how bad their bad habit(s) is(are) and just how much it affects them.
Then again, I know I've got my fair share of bad habits (and if you're reading this and know some, please feel free to not post them!) that I just can't quit. Some worse than others, I sit here and think 'It'd be easy to do without it, but I just don't want to.' So kudos to you Goethe, you've wrapped up my entire sentiment about bad habits in one simple, easy to understand statement. Enjoy my fluff around it on your lazy Sunday :)
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