Healthy New Year Habits

We often, well, maybe even most of the times, have a problem with New Year Resolutions. You know, those pesky items we planned to do in the New Year to make our lives better than the previous year. Weight loss, exercise, read, write, get control of finances…. You know. Those necessary things that are important to have.

Several years ago I started thinking about the wasted effort and time many of us spend on attempting to control our lives for the better. Resolutions fall by the way side like a tiny drip out of the faucet until the gasket breaks and then it’s full on wash everything away! Before long we simply give up on the change and return to life as our past normal dictates.

I started thinking about those habits we have, how to break them, and how to create new ones. They are not resolutions in the old sense of the word, rather, they are changing our lives by creating and managing new habits that are healthy to our well being.

Let me share a few habits I’m working on.

Reading. I am a voracious reader, but I often read for enjoyment more than for knowledge. Yes. Clancy, Thom, Michener, Ludlum, Asimov, and the like. This is perhaps identifying my active imagination, because these stories pull me into the scenery as I paint the world. If the words seem to show a difference than what my mind as generated, then I flip the scene, change the colors, or whatever it takes to make the scene work as the author intended. I even learn things from these stories about people, projects, science, technology, and the underbelly of life.

But I also read for knowledge, inspiration, and help. From the Bible, to detail explanations of history and science, even DIY (do it yourself) to prepare me for completing a task or starting a project.

As a kid, I remember reading the back of the cereal box because I could not imagine sitting and talking with my siblings, or just eating and having nothing else to do. Through my adult years I found that I enjoyed lunch by myself, eating and enjoying some favored reading of the season.

I have successfully read the bible through multiple times, and even if I plan on doing it every year, I get distracted by some portion of scripture that turns it into a research project! Of course, as a student of the Word, I realize that every time I open the pages there are distractions!

Here’s my habit with reading that gets me through the year. I have several books that I read simultaneously. Always, the Bible is included and I keep it my “first” book of the day, and try to ensure it’s one of the “last” of the evening, even if it’s just a scriptural reference…just one verse! I have a book I’m reading for learning something new or for inspiration to confirm a belief. I have a book that is for relaxation, as in, I need to force myself to step back from the tasks in front of me and turn my attention to a few moments of ease…and this may simply be one or two pages.

I don’t have to force myself to read, but I do have to keep myself from reading too much! This is my habit to keep my mind and soul healthy!

Exercise. The older I get the more difficult it is to think about a regime that many take for granted in their younger years. I was hit by a slung baseball bat at about 11 years old, and then my knee popped out of place at about 15 and I was on crutches for weeks. This keeps me from running or hard exertion because the knee will lock up at the most inopportune time. But it does not stop me from enjoying a walk in the woods! So. I try to walk as much as possible.

Here’s the simple truth. Exercise is all about staying stretched and mobile. I have exercise bands that I use to help my muscles build resistance, walking to build endurance, and I’m always looking for something extra that fits my physical needs.

Food. This is probably the toughest thing to deal with. I’m an unconscious eater, not worrying about exacting perfection of the product, just something to hold off the hunger monster! When younger we think we are invincible and nothing we ingest will affect us. This may be true when you are burning calories by the thousands, but as you slow down then poor food choices complicates the physique and stamina.

Here’s the rub.
Your Health depends so much on Food and Exercise.
Some health issues will happen no matter what you do,
but do not let it be from the things you can control!

So. I am working on making conscious changes to both. Since my focus has changed, and I say this to my chagrin, I’m about 50 lbs lighter at this time than I was 18 months ago. I’m not making radical changes that will damage my body, but I am making more healthy choices on what and when I eat and exercise. Snacking is done with a healthy choice in mind and not the Milk Duds that I simply adore!

Relationships. After nearly 45 years of marriage, I know how my bride and I work together and keeping the spark alive often means doing what we want to do together or separately so that we both enjoy our aging years better than many.

Still. There are other relationships that matter. Social Media has allowed me to reconnect with those from by-gone eras without tracking down addresses, phone numbers or even email addresses. It’s been an important connection to my past, sort of like rummaging through the High School Yearbook and reminiscing about those “glory years”. In fact, I have recently dug my Yearbooks out of one of my many boxes of books in the garage and have flipped through the pages for hours!

I try to stay in touch with my family – siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles. I have no grandparents in my life, but it was important to connect with them when they were here. I learn valuable lessons from every one of my family members and am blessed with many in my life.

Do you want to know the truth about relationships? They change over time. I have very few “friends” in my life (people I hang out with often), but I have many relationships. Nurture a relationship and you might just find friendship, and from those, you might find life-long companions to be there as the years’ age you.

I get my inspiration from several sources. First. Consider that on a Sunday afternoon between morning and evening church services, 35 pastors attended my grandmother’s funeral (Audrey Walters Simmons). I was stranded in Alberta, Canada, unable to fly home in time for the funeral and my cousin, Galen Walters, stepped in to take my place as a pallbearer.

Second. One of the most remarkable stories I’ve read and studied is by one of my favorite authors, Bruce Feiler. When stricken with cancer that could have taken his life, he thought about his daughters and who would raise them into adulthood. He read books, sought advice and asked a number of men that would step in and be replacement dads should they be needed. Men who each had some aspect of their life they could add to his daughters lives as needed. Read his book – The Council of Dads.

Mentors and Coaches. This should not even be difficult to consider, but we are often found to be loners when it comes to making good choices, or finding input into major life choices. I seek advice from those I trust, and trust is hard to earn. In this hypersensitive world, we are finding that those we currently trust may have a past that is imperfect. What is sad about this? It’s the Human Condition that none are perfect! No Not One! (Romans 3:10) If you are going to accept Mentors and Coaches and allow them to have a voice in your life you need to know they are not perfect, even if they have something valuable to share!

This is why my next habit is so important.

Prayer and Meditation. I don’t know what people do who have no one to pray to, but I believe prayer is a 24-hour opportunity, and staying in this concept we avail ourselves of Paul’s teaching to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Though Paul was telling Timothy to preach the Word and to be INSTANT in season and out (2 Timothy 4:2), I like to apply this principle to prayer. There’s no better time to pray than now and it does not have to follow any special routine. I call them “Breath Prayers“.

But Prayer is not only about the words in our minds and on our tongue. This is where Meditation comes to play. This is simply reining in all distractions and letting your mind ease from its rampant paths, and simply think about nothing stressful. This is where I think David had a deep understanding and shared it several times, several different ways. Here’s my favorite.

Our words and mediation of the heart. Join these two items together and perhaps there is no greater power than the power of praying and meditating about everything around us. Power? Yes. When your mouth and heart are in sync with God, then you have your Strength and Redeemer watching over your every breath.

Writing. My kids have proven to me by their example that writing is cathartic. It’s a release of what’s in the mind, or ill stated with spoken words, but great tomes to be shared with anyone, or no one.

In younger years I remember disliking writing assignments, at least until the computer came along. I type way faster than I jot, and I enjoy writing quickly to get the thought down because I know my mind will let the image float away! Then, recent college years forced me to study, research and write out complete thoughts. Hence, my blogging produced the avenue for writing, sharing, and capturing my thoughts. Some come from life’s examples, while others are studied dissertations that I use for preaching and teaching.

Imagine if there were no writers to record the past as they have so eloquently accomplished – we would have nothing to read! The written word goes back further than we can imagine. Language, style, and medium have often changed, but someone interested in making the words available to the future spends an inordinate amount of time reading, deciphering, translating, writing and publishing volumes that we can access easily.

Regardless of what others will do, daily writing is important to me.

Conclusion. We all have habits we want to develop so they develop us! Repetition is the key. Some think a habit is created and destroyed in 21 consecutive days of observance. I’ve come to think that you can create healthy habits in seconds, especially if you know why you are doing it.

What habits are you creating to make a better rendition of who you want to be? Feel like sharing?