Good habits
A long time ago when I was lost in the dark for years, when I could see no way out, or through, when everything seemed helpless and hopeless, what kept me going was a 20 plus year practice of getting up early and moving my body in some way. Running, swimming, cycling.
This habit, hardwired, saved my life.
As I ran around a running track one morning in the dark with a fellow runner, we discussed how both of us were here as the antidote to a bottomless pit of despair we were currently negotiating. Our form of moving meditation.
Good habits anchor us, providing the container in which we can live a healthy life. They are an affirmation of our worth, to a greater something that we might dedicate our time and service to.
Bad habits bring us down, tangling us in a warped story of unworthiness, denial, shame or protection from feelings that are coming due to face.
When we build good habits we give ourselves space to show up as our best. With time the good habits erode away at the bad. Self-love does that. The strength we get from trusting ourselves gives us the mettle to say no to that which no longer serves us.
Photo taken March 24th 2022
