Habits - always a work in progress

This morning in A Diary of Readings, this struck me:

Could the young but realize how soon they will become
mere walking bundles of habits,
they would give more heed to their conduct
while in the plastic state.
William James

I agree. Although I do pray that at my not-so-young age that I am still in a somewhat "plastic state." I would say that my sabbatical (Nov 1, 2008 to Feb 1, 2009) was an exercise in cultivating and deepening some habits - old ones and new ones.

I'm tilling the soil of my heart to root these habits down deep:

• Daily Bible reading. Supposedly a given for Christians, but it's so easy for this to become mechanical. We engage our eyes, maybe even our minds in some ways, but with our hearts left behind, it can become merely an item to check off of a daily to-do list. Consistent, expectant reading each day has nurtured an appetite in my soul for this. I find myself craving it each day. Glorious. And if the trend of I'm too tired to get up and do this starts happening more than one day in a row, then I'm doing too much and need to go to bed earlier. Period.
  
• Reading at night. It is beyond tempting to just flop on the couch after a long day and turn on something on TV. There are enough decent shows out there that it can become so easy to commit certain nights to certain shows... While I'll confess a definitive commitment to watching The Office on Thursday nights, I'm seeking to spend 2-3 nights a week in a quiet house, reading books, sometimes writing.
• Daily exercise. My brain, my lower back (I hate admitting that), my heart... all of me needs a walk, a bike ride, or some dose of Vitamin D. Even a half hour. I try to ride my bike 4-5 times a week, but on the days I know I won't get that in, I put on a pedometer and make myself find 10,000 steps in a given day. Dorky, and proud of it!
  
• Cooking at home/Eating seasonally. Again, in the rush of life, it's easier to pick something up on the way home. But I'm being won over to the Slow Food lifestyle - where I'm not only cooking at home, but using recipes (versus opening a frozen pizza, putting it in the oven and calling that cooking!), carving out time to slow down and not eating in a rush. Since I belong to Fairview Gardens, I'm also trying to eat seasonally - so yes, I would rather eat red peppers every day of the year. But I have to wait for them to be in season - which grows anticipation and patience in me. Buying food from Fairview makes me be more creative - for example, tonight my goal is to find a recipe that uses chard, leeks and turnips. Scrunch your face and say eew, or realize that spices and simmering can rock your world. I just found "Country Chicken Stew" - stay tuned.

Do you see a theme? I'll put it out there - I'm trying to DO LESS. We are too busy. I resonate with James' phrase walking bundle of habits, and on my sabbatical I realized I didn't like some of my habits. So I am praying for change and working at it, bit by bit.

And you?