Thursday, October 19, 2006

Habitual Tendencies

Do you have any habits?

Thinking of that question, did you immediately think of a good habit or a bad habit? I thought of a bad habit.

What makes a good habit? What makes a bad habit? And, how do they start?

A definition of habit (among others) according to Webster - a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior; a : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance b : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.

Now I can think of some bad habits that are almost completely involuntary, but it is harder for me to think of some good habits in that light. Perhaps our good habits don’t create guilt or negative feelings, so we can just consider them part of our daily routine?

Related words, according to Webster’s Online Thesaurus: addiction; disposition; bent, inclination, proclivity, tendency, turn; convention, form, mode, style; usage; manners, mores; groove, rote, routine, rut; affectation, airs, pose; attribute, characteristic, mark, trait; oddity, peculiarity, quirk, singularity, tic; strangeness, weirdness.

What do you think of the related words routine and rut; characteristic and trait; and, how do they fit into your habits?

3 comments:

Christopher Green said...

I first thought of "good" habits. The mysterious elements of habits for me is why are they at times quite consistent and then at other times inconsistent.

What variable is at play in that dynamic?

Vonnie said...

This is too intellectual for me. :)

Greetings From Tucson said...

Consistency of habits is confusing to me as well. Are we more consistent with good habits or bad?
Thanks for your comment!