I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that the most durable good habits I can bring into my life are the ones I’ve put into practice early in the day before the excuses have accumulated, before life gets in the way when it shouldn’t. Even an established healthy habit can be tough to keep without renewing our commitment to that good habit. It’s a daily challenge.
The Psychology of Setting the Alarm
Take this morning. I awoke early, three minutes before my alarm was to go off (Pro tip: if you set your alarm, you will always wake up earlier. At least I do. Don’t tell me my subconsciousness isn’t at the controls). An ashen winter light filtered through the bedroom curtains and a slight draft snuck through the window frame. The moment I stirred, Gracie was up on the bed standing over me in the event I’d forgotten she required breakfast. Immediately.
I threw on my robe, flipped on the coffee maker, and gave my golden her breakfast, which she devoured before my coffee was even finished brewing. She looked at me expectantly.
“Give me a minute, Gracie. Please.”
Your Dog Knows What’s Good for You
Gracie is married to her healthy habits. Since the pandemic I’ve abandoned my daily morning gym routine in favor of a vigorous morning hike in the Berkshires hills with my dog. She loves it. Rain or shine she is fired up. She knows what’s good for us. But on this frigid January morning I was looking for a reason to skip or at least delay, maybe till after it warmed up a bit. I checked my calendar hoping it would grant me a reprieve. Nothing pressing, only deadlines that could be dealt with later in the day.
“You know it’s practically single digits out there,” I said.
She wasn’t budging. If she could have talked, she might have said, “Why did you buy that massive down coat if it wasn’t for mornings like this?”
I couldn’t bring myself to betray her expectations. I thew on some clothes and the massive down coat, jumped in the Jeep and headed to the East Mountain trail. In the utter silence of the woods, my feet crunched into the snow. At 1,700 feet above sea level, the air was crystalline. Our breath came in clouds, Gracie forging ahead, tail aloft, casting me an occasional glance as if to say, “Keep up.”
The Magical Moment Arrives
Then came that moment, that magical moment, a reversal, when suddenly I felt completely alive and present. This is why I do this. The healthy habit of hiking, of exercise, always does this to me yet on mornings like this and against my better angels, I resist. Yet it is on mornings like this that the habit takes deeper root. If I can practice my good habit when I wrestle with my reluctance, that habit becomes more durable.
I stopped to catch my breath and savor a silence so complete that time seemed to have paused. My soul woke up. I felt a closeness to a greater consciousness, a spiritual connectedness, a feeling that would carry me through the day, a feeling that God had met me. But I had to do my part.
All at once a bluebird trilled. Way out here. On this frozen morning when healthy habits are made strong. Gracie’s ears perked up. We forged ahead, joyously. The day could begin.
